Author: atagar Date: 2014-02-06 16:52:25 +0000 (Thu, 06 Feb 2014) New Revision: 26591

Modified: website/trunk/getinvolved/en/volunteer.wml Log: Updating 'Build Better Pluggable Transports'

Applying a patch from Ximin for the 'Build Better Pluggable Transports' project.

Modified: website/trunk/getinvolved/en/volunteer.wml =================================================================== --- website/trunk/getinvolved/en/volunteer.wml 2014-02-06 04:51:50 UTC (rev 26590) +++ website/trunk/getinvolved/en/volunteer.wml 2014-02-06 16:52:25 UTC (rev 26591) @@ -240,7 +240,7 @@ <td>Client Add-on</td> <td>Python, JavaScript, Go</td> <td>Heavy</td> - <td>dcf, aallai, jct</td> + <td>dcf, infinity0, aallai, jct</td> </tr>

<tr> @@ -1070,27 +1070,68 @@ <br> Skill Level: <i>Medium</i> <br> - Likely Mentors: <i>Steven (sjmurdoch), George (asn)</i> + Likely Mentors: <i>Steven (sjmurdoch), Ximin (infinity0), George (asn)</i> <p> - For Tor users in censored countries, we currently offer <a + For Tor users in censored countries, we have a <a + href="https://www.torproject.org/docs/pluggable-transports.html.en%22%3E + pluggable transports</a> framework that uses external programs to bypass + censorship in different ways. Each of these have their own strengths and + weaknesses. + </p> + + <p> + We have deployed <a href="https://www.torproject.org/projects/obfsproxy.html.en">obfsproxy</a> - bridges, which disguise Tor traffic by making it look random. This works - for many users, but it has disadvantages: firstly it does not disguise - packet size and secondly it looks like no real protocol. These weaknesses - may result in obfsproxy being blocked. + and <a href="http://crypto.stanford.edu/flashproxy/">flashproxy</a> bridges + for a while, accessible using separately-installed pluggable transport + clients. Recently, we added this client support to the main Tor Browser + Bundle, and are adding more transports such as scramblesuit and fteproxy. </p>

<p> - The goal for this project will be to implement new pluggable transports, - which resolve these weaknesses and so can be deployed if/when obfsproxy is - blocked. Ideas for doing so include: - <ul> - <li>Impersonate a voice-over-IP protocol</li> - <li>Impersonate HTTP sufficiently well that traffic will go through a HTTP-only proxy</li> - <li>Implement <a href="http://cacr.uwaterloo.ca/techreports/2011/cacr2011-21.pdf">scanning resistance</a></a> - </ul> + There are several possible directions for this project. Ideas include: + <ol> + <li>Address gaps or weaknesses in our existing pluggable transports + <ul> + <li>Flashproxy: Add WebRTC support to traverse NATs.</li> + <li>Flashproxy: Improve the facilitator's resistance against DoS + and poisoning attacks.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li>Build our pluggable transport combiner, that chains several + transports together to take advantage of orthogonal types of blocking + resistance.</li> + <li>Improve the UX for selecting the appropriate pluggable transport in + the new Tor Browser Bundle, whilst maintaining user security.</li> + <li>Implement a new pluggable transport that resists blocking in a + novel way. + <ul> + <li>Impersonate a voice-over-IP protocol</li> + <li>Impersonate HTTP <a + href="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~amir/papers/parrot.pdf%22%3Esufficiently + well</a> that traffic will go through a HTTP-only proxy</li> + <li>Implement <a + href="http://cacr.uwaterloo.ca/techreports/2011/cacr2011-21.pdf%22%3Escanning + resistance</a></li> + </ul> + </li> + </ol> </p>

+ <p> + Applicants should be familiar with asynchronous/reactive programming, in + particular the <a href="https://twistedmatrix.com/">Twisted framework</a> + or something related. Most of the existing code is written in Python, with + some parts in JavaScript and Go, so you should know at least one of these. + You are invited to talk to us and ask questions, via our mailing lists + or IRC. <b>As part of your application, please contribute a patch that + implements a small feature or fixes a bug related to this area, e.g. <a + href="https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/query?status=!closed&component=...</a>, + <a href="https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/query?status=!closed&component=Obfsproxy">2</a>, + <a href="https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/query?status=!closed&component=Flashproxy">3</a>. + </b> + </p> + <a id="hsSearchEngine"></a> <li> <b>Search Engine for Hidden Services</b>