The Tor Project has issued an urgent appeal to the privacy community asking volunteers to help deploy 200 new WebTunnel bridges by the end of the year, to combat government censorship.
See also: IP Spoofing attack attempted to disrupt Tor network
Currently, the Tor Project operates 143 WebTunnel bridges, which help users in heavily censored regions bypass Internet and website blocks.
This comes in response to increasing censorship in Russia, which Tor says is currently affecting the browser 's built-in censorship bypass mechanisms, including obfs4 and Snowflake connections .
The Tor Project believes that creating more WebTunnel bridges is the best answer to this escalation of censorship, as analyzing new tactics and developing solutions takes time, leaving users vulnerable and isolated from the free Internet.
WebTunnels are a new type of bridge introduced by the Tor Project in March 2024, specifically designed to combine Tor traffic with regular web traffic, making it harder to detect and block by censorship circumvention mechanisms. The system achieves this by running a web server with a valid SSL/TLS certificate, disguising Tor traffic as normal HTTPS traffic.
See also: Tor says it's still secure despite reports of deanonymize
Unlike typical Tor bridges that use specific protocols, such as obfs4, which makes them easier to identify, WebTunnel bridges "hide in plain sight", which allows them to be resistant to aggressive censorship.
Today, Tor launched a new campaign that runs until March 10, 2025, calling on volunteers to create and maintain new WebTunnel bridges. Those who respond by setting up five or more WebTunnel bridges during that period will receive a t-shirt as a “thank you” from the organization.
For more information on how to set up and operate WebTunnel bridges, volunteers can refer to this official guide.
See also: Tor Browser 13.5.3 update improves privacy across devices
The Tor Browser is an online browser that provides anonymous and secure browsing on the internet. It is based on the Tor network (The Onion Router), which distributes users' traffic through multiple nodes to ensure anonymity and security. The Tor Browser is suitable for users who wish to browse the internet with confidence and protect their privacy. By using the Tor Browser, users can access free websites and explore the internet with anonymity and security.
Source: bleepingcomputer
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