Re: [qubes-users] Private Tor Bridge.

['hut7no' via qubes-users]

> I notice that Tor has a means for "Bridges."  A Bridge being an IP Address 
> that allow one to make a first hop to an IP Address that the ISP, or local 
> server is not expecting, or blocking.  
> 
> My problem being that if one was in a place like China, then the government 
> is surely trying to gather up all the Bridges which the Tor network has.   

If tor bridges are not enough, you might want to try psiphon.

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Re: [qubes-users] Private Tor Bridge.

[Michael Carbone]

On 5/26/20 9:39 AM, Catacombs wrote:
> Not sure if Qubes Users is the best place to bring this up.
> 
> As I look at the various means to get on the Internet, in risky situations:
> Public WiFi.
> Hotels.
> A country which is involved in spying on its citizens.  
> 
> I notice that Tor has a means for "Bridges."  A Bridge being an IP Address 
> that allow one to make a first hop to an IP Address that the ISP, or local 
> server is not expecting, or blocking.  
> 
> My problem being that if one was in a place like China, then the government 
> is surely trying to gather up all the Bridges which the Tor network has.   
> 
> Just generally, I see one could create a private webpage somewhere, and 
> place on it the software to allow one to use it as one's own personal, 
> private Bridge.  First hop out.  Then one could direct the software on the 
> Server to - which ever. start a standard Tor, Connect to a VPN.   
> 
> It does require trusting where the server is one has put one's software 
> on.   
> 
> Obviously, one could borrow the Software from Tor to create a Bridge.  I 
> did not mention it to Tor, because, as this is risky in several ways, Tor 
> website will not publicly agree to help create this project.   Although 
> some of their programmers might advise on how to minimize risks.   
> 
> And the implementation inside Qubes Network manager software -dom0 has its 
> own special issues.  
> 
> Any comments?  / is this already on the list of suggestions for Qubes?
> 

you are correct that this is not really the right place to get a good
response as there is nothing Qubes-specific about this topic, the Tor
community would make much more sense.

The Tor Project just came out with a new community portal that has more
information about running Tor relays (in your particular case, bridges):

https://community.torproject.org/relay/
https://community.torproject.org/relay/types-of-relays/

here is a community effort to make setting up a server to use as a Tor
bridge simpler:
https://github.com/StreisandEffect/streisand/

there are certainly other similar projects on github as well.

it sounds like you are interested in reading more about pluggable
transports, which are the different strategies for obfuscating the
initial hop to the Tor network:

https://www.pluggabletransports.info

for example, in China the "meek" pluggable transport still works:

https://www.pluggabletransports.info/transports/

some of these transports are included in Tor Browser so that a user can
still circumvent some censorship mechanisms without the need to create a
private bridge.

The Tor project "will not publicly agree to help create this project"
because it is clear you are just learning about these topics and the
first step should be to research more to understand the issues better,
through which you will find that many people within the Tor community,
in academia, & beyond are actively working on these topics and there is
already functionality within Tor Browser that takes these issues into
account. Because China and some other countries actively work on new
methods to identify and block such initial hops, it will continue to be
a topic for research & development for the foreseeable future.

-- 
Michael Carbone

Qubes OS | https://www.qubes-os.org
@QubesOS 

PGP fingerprint: D3D8 BEBF ECE8 91AC 46A7 30DE 63FC 4D26 84A7 33B4

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[qubes-users] Private Tor Bridge.

[Catacombs]

Not sure if Qubes Users is the best place to bring this up.

As I look at the various means to get on the Internet, in risky situations:
Public WiFi.
Hotels.
A country which is involved in spying on its citizens.  

I notice that Tor has a means for "Bridges."  A Bridge being an IP Address 
that allow one to make a first hop to an IP Address that the ISP, or local 
server is not expecting, or blocking.  

My problem being that if one was in a place like China, then the government 
is surely trying to gather up all the Bridges which the Tor network has.   

Just generally, I see one could create a private webpage somewhere, and 
place on it the software to allow one to use it as one's own personal, 
private Bridge.  First hop out.  Then one could direct the software on the 
Server to - which ever. start a standard Tor, Connect to a VPN.   

It does require trusting where the server is one has put one's software 
on.   

Obviously, one could borrow the Software from Tor to create a Bridge.  I 
did not mention it to Tor, because, as this is risky in several ways, Tor 
website will not publicly agree to help create this project.   Although 
some of their programmers might advise on how to minimize risks.   

And the implementation inside Qubes Network manager software -dom0 has its 
own special issues.  

Any comments?  / is this already on the list of suggestions for Qubes?


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