Brave Browser Can ByPass Tor Locks With Snowflake Extension

While the Tor overlay network used for anonymization can be reached without any problems in this country, the service is blocked in numerous countries. The current version of the Brave browser has an option to easily bypass such blockages.

Since the update to version 1.47 that was released yesterday, Brave has the Snowflake extension, which can be configured via the software settings. According to Bleeping Computer, the browser was equipped with support for Tor bridges some time ago. Bridges provide an entry point into the network even if the service is blocked and unavailable in the user’s country of residence. To prevent Tor bridges from also being subject to censorship measures, the addresses are not publicly listed by default. In addition, new bridges are added at regular intervals.

Snowflake is a peer-to-peer system created by the Tor project itself. The service provides temporary proxies using WebRTC. It then brokers a Snowflake bridge that can be used to connect to the Tor network. Unlike a Tor node, Snowflake does not forward actual Tor traffic.

Own Snowflake proxies

If you want to support the service, you can run Snowflake proxies yourself. The associated addresses should be treated confidentially. Proxy operators cannot read the data traffic of the users, since the information, which is already encrypted, is only forwarded. However, some administrators should refrain from running their own proxy. This includes users in countries with blocked Tor access, systems with limited Internet access, and computers at work.