May 23, 2024
Internet censorship is arguably a critical threat facing freedom of expression and access to information today. This is especially true for countries where access to information is restricted by governments or other controlling entities. For many countries around the world, controlling entities use various tools, techniques, and technology in order to control and restrict access to certain websites and publicly available content. The Tor Project’s response to such targeted censorship is WebTunnel.
In this blog, DarkOwl analysts summarize what WebTunnel is, how it is implemented, and the impacts it has.
Image 1: Source: Tor Blog
TORTunnel
Released March 12th, 2024, TORTunnel is a webtunnel tool developed by the Tor Project that allows users to bypass censorship by disguising traffic to mimic encrypted web traffic. Essentially, TORTunnel helps users evade censorship by hiding traffic in plain sight. The tool tunnels TOR traffic by wrapping the TOR connection in a websocket-like HTTPS connection, making traffic more difficult for tools, techniques, and technology to detect and block. The Tor Project designed WebTunnel to be easy to use and simple to deploy.
Key Features:
- HTTPS Tunneling:
- Uses HTTPS tunneling to mimic ‘normal’ HTTPS traffic
- Obfuscation:
- Uses obfuscation techniques to disguise Tor traffic
- User-Friendly Interface:
- Designed to be user-friendly and easy to use
Configuring a TOR browser to use the new TORTunnel web tunnel feature is easy. Users simply navigate to the TOR Project bridges resource from any browser, select “webtunnel”, and copy the provided line. The user then simply opens the TOR browser, selects “add a bridge manually”, pastes the copied line, and restarts the browser. No further modifications or configurations are required.
Tor provides individuals with a means to protect and obfuscate online privacy and anonymity, enabling users to browse internet connected resources without potentially revealing personal or location data. TORTunnel has the potential to significantly impact censorship evasion by providing users with an easier, more effective and reliable means to access restricted content.
Impact
The availability of features like TORTunnel impacts corporate security and further extends the corporate risk surface. Corporate security policies and technology often lock down networks and devices to protect the organization. Anonymity driven tools and features often allows users to bypass corporate defenses to browse the totality of the internet both good and bad. While it’s fair to assess most users using privacy-driven tools to bypass corporate security policies, technology, and controls are likely not doing it out of spite or hostility towards the organization, these users often lack the guidance and information on why these tools and features should not be used to bypass corporate defenses.
Educate users on the risks bypass tools expose the organization to and why such tools are not allowed inside the corporate environment or on corporate devices. Allow staff to understand the potential impact and outcome. TOR is a tool neither good nor bad until assigned an action by the user. Encourage staff to include the security of the organization in their decisions.
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