Psiphon
November 29, 2006 2:25 AM Subscribe
Psiphon facilitates circumvention of national firewalls.
Yeah, upon further examination, it looks like I jumped the gun on this. It doesn't go live until 1 December, and most pages on the site are "Coming Soon".
Administrator, please hope me.
posted by Optamystic at 2:36 AM on November 29, 2006
Administrator, please hope me.
posted by Optamystic at 2:36 AM on November 29, 2006
Hey, cool.
Grr. Blockable, non-anonymous and it relies almost entirely on "security through obscurity" to protect itself from being blocked. Prediction: Utter failure.
That, and the FAQ and "tutorial" is written in Flash. What the hell kind of self respecting developer writes a FAQ and tutorial in Flash?
How is this better than Tor or a progression or advancement of a regular proxy server? It appears to basically be a password protected proxy server.
posted by loquacious at 2:41 AM on November 29, 2006
Grr. Blockable, non-anonymous and it relies almost entirely on "security through obscurity" to protect itself from being blocked. Prediction: Utter failure.
That, and the FAQ and "tutorial" is written in Flash. What the hell kind of self respecting developer writes a FAQ and tutorial in Flash?
How is this better than Tor or a progression or advancement of a regular proxy server? It appears to basically be a password protected proxy server.
posted by loquacious at 2:41 AM on November 29, 2006
I don't think it's entirely blockable. From what I gather from the scant information on the site, it's decentralised, so that if you and I both download the server app, each of our machines becomes a proxy with a unique address. That address is passed on to people who know people who know people.
I agree with you about the Flash. WTF?
posted by Optamystic at 3:00 AM on November 29, 2006
I agree with you about the Flash. WTF?
posted by Optamystic at 3:00 AM on November 29, 2006
Um...what does it do, exactly?
Not an IT professional, here...
posted by mistermoore at 3:03 AM on November 29, 2006
Not an IT professional, here...
posted by mistermoore at 3:03 AM on November 29, 2006
That address is passed on to people who know people who know people.
I guess what I don't understand is how that doesn't stop the firewall folks from adding your host to the list, once they get word about it, and in that respect it seems it wouldn't be any different from any other web proxy?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:37 AM on November 29, 2006
I guess what I don't understand is how that doesn't stop the firewall folks from adding your host to the list, once they get word about it, and in that respect it seems it wouldn't be any different from any other web proxy?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:37 AM on November 29, 2006
Nothing stops them from adding a host, but if a million people run the app, then that's a million addresses that the censors have to identify and block. And since the host addresses will not be publicly posted, it should be somewhat tricky for the governments to stay on top of this.
More info here.
posted by Optamystic at 4:04 AM on November 29, 2006
More info here.
posted by Optamystic at 4:04 AM on November 29, 2006
Nothing stops them from adding a host, but if a million people run the app, then that's a million addresses that the censors have to identify and block. And since the host addresses will not be publicly posted, it should be somewhat tricky for the governments to stay on top of this.
I understand that, but there is the question of how to distribute information about the proxy "nodes" which seems to make its use problematic. Can it really scale to a million people?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:14 AM on November 29, 2006
I understand that, but there is the question of how to distribute information about the proxy "nodes" which seems to make its use problematic. Can it really scale to a million people?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:14 AM on November 29, 2006
I understand that, but there is the question of how to distribute information about the proxy "nodes" which seems to make its use problematic. Can it really scale to a million people?
Yes. Simply because 1 million people are in the "network" doesn't mean your client needs to talk to 1 million people (or even some significantly large subset of that) to find the data it wants.
Sounds like an I2P clone/client to me.
posted by public at 4:26 AM on November 29, 2006
Yes. Simply because 1 million people are in the "network" doesn't mean your client needs to talk to 1 million people (or even some significantly large subset of that) to find the data it wants.
Sounds like an I2P clone/client to me.
posted by public at 4:26 AM on November 29, 2006
Curiously, we have two levels of blockage in China. BlogSpot, Technorati, and Wikipedia are in the first category wherein the they get blocked and unblocked regularly [except Technorati is always blocked and Blogger has always been accessible] but are easily circumvented with proxies. Then you have sites like BBC News, which seems to be locked behind an iron gate [though I've heard Mac users say they've got a program that works, I've yet to see it].
Any ideas on how/why this is?
posted by trinarian at 5:21 AM on November 29, 2006
Any ideas on how/why this is?
posted by trinarian at 5:21 AM on November 29, 2006
trinarian -- Try Tor. It works like a charm for everything, including sites like the BBC and VOA that are hard-blocked. (The reason for the block, incidentally, is that the BBC etc. are producing news content in Chinese, which makes blocking them a priority.) Also, assuming you're running Firefox, the Torbutton plugin will make using Tor a heck of a lot easier.
I don't really get how psiphon is superior to Tor, except perhaps from an authentication standpoint, but then again I'm not the techiest of people.
posted by bokane at 6:30 AM on November 29, 2006 [1 favorite]
I don't really get how psiphon is superior to Tor, except perhaps from an authentication standpoint, but then again I'm not the techiest of people.
posted by bokane at 6:30 AM on November 29, 2006 [1 favorite]
Psiphon: Analysis and Estimation -- proposal, two years old.
How is this better than Tor or a progression or advancement of a regular proxy server? It appears to basically be a password protected proxy server.
I'm not a user, but Tor apparently must be installed as a client, which doesn't always work. I think this is a middle ground between a fully anonymized p2p network and a service like Anonymizer, which is easier to install and use for more people compared with a web proxy.
In any case, one should avoid a monoculture. Give people three ways to get through the firewall instead of one, just in case China has some bright software engineers working for the censors. Besides, competition is almost always a good thing -- I sure don't get this "gosh golly gee the perfect tool has already been invented go away" attitude.
posted by dhartung at 10:28 AM on November 29, 2006
How is this better than Tor or a progression or advancement of a regular proxy server? It appears to basically be a password protected proxy server.
I'm not a user, but Tor apparently must be installed as a client, which doesn't always work. I think this is a middle ground between a fully anonymized p2p network and a service like Anonymizer, which is easier to install and use for more people compared with a web proxy.
In any case, one should avoid a monoculture. Give people three ways to get through the firewall instead of one, just in case China has some bright software engineers working for the censors. Besides, competition is almost always a good thing -- I sure don't get this "gosh golly gee the perfect tool has already been invented go away" attitude.
posted by dhartung at 10:28 AM on November 29, 2006
The two main advantages it's supposed to provide are minimal setup and 'evidence' left on the client machine, and using trust-based social networking as a distribution method.
posted by Adam_S at 11:46 AM on November 29, 2006
posted by Adam_S at 11:46 AM on November 29, 2006
New tool aims to bypass Internet censorship
by Rob Lever
WASHINGTON, Dec 1, 2006 (AFP) - A new tool aimed at circumventing Internet filters used by repressive regimes was released Friday, offering hopes for freer access to information for activists, journalists and others.
The "psiphon" software, developed at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, offers more potential for bypassing government censors than most other tools because it allows simple access and leaves no traces on the computers of people who use it, developers say.
Psiphon, released through the Open Net Initiative, a project of four universities in the United States, Canada and Britain, "operates on private social networks of trust," said Ronald Deibert, director of Citizen Lab.
Deibert said psiphon functions like a "virtual private network" used by many companies and organizations to securely transmit data, but without the cumbersome installation of VPNs.
"We've designed it to be very easy to use," Deibert said, noting that other software aimed at maintaining anonymity on the Internet can be complex to use.
"The user does not have to install anything. They connect to the software with a unique user name and password and website address."
Because the system relies on a connection through a proxy computer outside the country, "there is nothing authorities can block," Deibert said.
With psiphon, a user in a country such as China, which limits the information that can be seen on the Internet, connects to a proxy in another country that allows them to bypass restrictions.
Even if authorities located someone using the bypass tool, they would only be able to shut down a single "node" or contact and this would not affect others.
And because the data is encrypted over the connection, he said authorities can only see there is a connection to another computer. To read the data, censors "would have to have sophisticated code-cracking technologies at their disposal, and it would take a long time."
The psiphon software itself is downloaded to a computer outside the repressive country, making it an access point. As a result, its benefits may be limited to people who have contacts outside their country.
Deibert said the small networks using this would likely include expatriate communities of Chinese, Iranians or others in the West. But it could also include journalists traveling to certain countries or people involved in non-governmental activist organizations.
Julien Pain of the human rights group Reporters Without Borders said psiphon is "a very good tool" for those seeking to bypass censorship in hardline regimes.
But Pain said psiphon might be limited to wealthier people who have family or friends outside the country.
"The everyday Internet user in China probably won't know anyone in the West," he said.
"It's very innovative but no software can solve the censorship problem."
Activists say Internet blocking has spread from a handful of countries like China and Iran to as many as 40 governments, including in Africa.
"Online censorship is spreading," Pain said.
Deibert said he expects thousands of people to begin using psiphon in countries such as China, where activists have been jailed for Internet activities, but also dozens of others which have some limits on the Web.
"Over the last five years, the Internet has been carved up, colonized and militarized and is losing the properties we associate as being an open forum of free expression," he said. "We are trying to restore the original promise."
posted by Dr.James.Orin.Incandenza at 2:05 PM on December 1, 2006
by Rob Lever
WASHINGTON, Dec 1, 2006 (AFP) - A new tool aimed at circumventing Internet filters used by repressive regimes was released Friday, offering hopes for freer access to information for activists, journalists and others.
The "psiphon" software, developed at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, offers more potential for bypassing government censors than most other tools because it allows simple access and leaves no traces on the computers of people who use it, developers say.
Psiphon, released through the Open Net Initiative, a project of four universities in the United States, Canada and Britain, "operates on private social networks of trust," said Ronald Deibert, director of Citizen Lab.
Deibert said psiphon functions like a "virtual private network" used by many companies and organizations to securely transmit data, but without the cumbersome installation of VPNs.
"We've designed it to be very easy to use," Deibert said, noting that other software aimed at maintaining anonymity on the Internet can be complex to use.
"The user does not have to install anything. They connect to the software with a unique user name and password and website address."
Because the system relies on a connection through a proxy computer outside the country, "there is nothing authorities can block," Deibert said.
With psiphon, a user in a country such as China, which limits the information that can be seen on the Internet, connects to a proxy in another country that allows them to bypass restrictions.
Even if authorities located someone using the bypass tool, they would only be able to shut down a single "node" or contact and this would not affect others.
And because the data is encrypted over the connection, he said authorities can only see there is a connection to another computer. To read the data, censors "would have to have sophisticated code-cracking technologies at their disposal, and it would take a long time."
The psiphon software itself is downloaded to a computer outside the repressive country, making it an access point. As a result, its benefits may be limited to people who have contacts outside their country.
Deibert said the small networks using this would likely include expatriate communities of Chinese, Iranians or others in the West. But it could also include journalists traveling to certain countries or people involved in non-governmental activist organizations.
Julien Pain of the human rights group Reporters Without Borders said psiphon is "a very good tool" for those seeking to bypass censorship in hardline regimes.
But Pain said psiphon might be limited to wealthier people who have family or friends outside the country.
"The everyday Internet user in China probably won't know anyone in the West," he said.
"It's very innovative but no software can solve the censorship problem."
Activists say Internet blocking has spread from a handful of countries like China and Iran to as many as 40 governments, including in Africa.
"Online censorship is spreading," Pain said.
Deibert said he expects thousands of people to begin using psiphon in countries such as China, where activists have been jailed for Internet activities, but also dozens of others which have some limits on the Web.
"Over the last five years, the Internet has been carved up, colonized and militarized and is losing the properties we associate as being an open forum of free expression," he said. "We are trying to restore the original promise."
posted by Dr.James.Orin.Incandenza at 2:05 PM on December 1, 2006
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posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:36 AM on November 29, 2006