The Tor browser is a popular tool for anonymizing internet traffic and bypassing blockages, using multi-layered data routing to ensure user privacy. Russian authorities, represented by Roskomnadzor, have long tried to restrict access to Tor by blocking publicly known nodes on the network.
On November 28, the Tor Project, an American non-profit organization responsible for supporting the software of the Tor anonymous network, launched a campaign that should help Russian residents circumvent Roskomnadzor's blocking. On the project website was published post "Tor in Russia: A call to increase the number of WebTunnel bridges".
Roskomnadzor has begun to fight Tor "bridges". What is it?
Recently, Roskomnadzor has begun to actively fight Tor "bridges" - non-public nodes that are issued to users upon request. You can get "bridges" in different ways, for example, through browser settings, the Tor website, email, or a Telegram bot. The difficulty with locking bridges is that it is almost impossible to get a complete list of these nodes.
Users can get new "bridges" in a variety of ways:
- using a telegram bot @GetBridgesBot.
- by going to Go to Settings Tor Browser;
- by opening it in any other browser a special page the Tor website;
- by sending a letter to the address [email protected] from a Gmail or Riseup email account;
Roskomnadzor, according to the assumptions of Tor developers, began to block some popular hosting providers in order to limit access to "bridges". In particular, it is recommended not to place "bridges" in the data centers of the German company Hetzner, which has problems with work in Russia.
In addition, Tor specialists have discovered a partial blocking of certain types of "bridges" in Russia (obfs4 and Snowflake). Perhaps Roskomnadzor has learned to identify them by some characteristic signs.
Tor is going to solve the problem with the help of a new type of "bridges" and the support of volunteers
To solve this problem, the Tor Project has developed a new type of "bridge" – WebTunnel. WebTunnel was introduced in March 2024 and is designed so that its traffic is indistinguishable from that of regular sites while remaining invisible to censors. WebTunnel can be hosted on the same servers as regular websites, which makes them even more difficult to find.
The Tor Project encourages volunteers to host WebTunnel "bridges" on their servers to help users in Russia bypass blocking. The goal of the campaign is to launch 200 new "bridges" by the end of 2024. Installing WebTunnel is as easy as possible, but it still requires system administration skills.
To encourage volunteers, the Tor Project promises a T-shirt to anyone who launches at least five WebTunnel "bridges" by March 10, 2025. There are also certain conditions that need to be met, such as that the bridge must be accessible over IPv4 and operate almost around the clock.
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