On 2021-12-22 22:42, Gary C. New via tor-relays wrote:
I know it might be a fundamental change to the Tor network, but would it be possible to obfuscate the Tor bridge/relay addresses with their respective fingerprints; similar, to the I2P network? I've often thought that this aspect of the I2P network is one that is implemented well. Perhaps Directory Authorities could preform fingerprint to address resolution? I think it would be extremely beneficial if neither bridge or relay addresses were published in the wild. It would make great strides in further buffering the Tor network from various black-listing/censorship techniques.
The thing is, while Tor itself is decentralized, the directory authorities and fallback directories are not.
For a Tor client to bootstrap, you need a list of relays to be able to connect to. And in turn you have to contact the dirauths or the fallbacks.
While you could use an I2P-style or more recently blockchain-style setup, I believe there was a reason for Tor to use centralized dirauths.
I can't seem to find the article/FAQ right now, even though I had it a few years ago. I'm guessing it's to prevent malicious dirauths, unlike how Bitcoin could get manipulated by bad actors with a decentralized authority system.
Respectfully,
Gary
-Neel