Useful Ways to Circumvent Internet Censorship

Circumventing internet blocks and avoiding censors has become an important part of web surfing for many users. Censors can range from a restrictive government regime to a company or school’s IT department and web surfers are always looking for a way to get through tight controls. Users need to maintain a certain level of privacy and anonymity when circumventing censors, especially since many companies will fire an employee for surfing, or in extreme cases a government can fine or imprison a web surfer for browsing on sites they deem to be inappropriate. Many products and services can be found to help users break free of stringent internet censors, allowing netizens to surf freely without the fear of oppressive bodies controlling their every movement. These products offer users unique ways to maintain their internet privacy and connect to the World Wide Web without any restrictions.

One way users can outsmart censors is by using Psiphon. Psiphon is a web proxy that was directly created to circumvent the tight Internet censorship of countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, and Cuba. The traffic between clients and servers is encrypted with “https” as the data is being transferred. Psiphon is offers users the advantage of turning their computers into servers that can display web pages from anywhere. This proxy works over trusted connections as opposed to an open proxy which travels over untrusted networks. Users in countries with tight censorship can log in and send a request to a server located in another country to gain access to blocked websites. Users do not have to download any software, meaning no traces of circumventors are found on the hard drive. While Psiphon can gain access to censored content it does not act as an anonymizer and all the client’s activities are logged in Psiphon’s servers, leaving it vulnerable to cyber attacks and hackers/crackers looking for information.

Another popular method is The Onion Router, also known as TOR. This service allows users to stay invisible against traffic analysis by relaying the network connection over various gateways. Since the gateways are themselves anonymous, users can have their data relayed around the world. Users do not have direct access to the site they visit, instead they are sent through a series of connections, called relays, which are individually encrypted. It is then sent to the next gateway until it reaches the exit node and the user can then see the website that was requested. TOR uses cryptography in layers, which is where the “onion” reference originated, and encrypts each connecting node individually. This allows user to remain highly anonymous since each node only knows where they receive the information from and which node they are sending the signal to. While this service has become quite popular it does have one major flaw. A user can set up a node which records all the information it receives and sends, ultimately tracking a users surfing habits.

A third method for circumventing blocks is with the Java Anon Proxy, commonly referred to as JonDo. This method allows users to choose which network to surf through. These networks are run by independent organizations. After a user chooses their network, the data stream is scrambled and mixed with other users’ data. This allows users to remain anonymous since anyone attempting to spy on or restrict the data flow is confused by the cluttered connection. Unlike TOR, the operators are not anonymous, which allows a user to decide which operators they will or will not trust with their information. A major drawback of this service is that all the operators, also known as mix cascades, can record their logs and compare them to reveal users’ online activities.

One of the most popular methods to access censored content is by using anonymous proxy servers, either in website form or software-based. These proxies are very common and can be found through the various search engines. Web-based proxies are very easy to implement, which attests to their abundance. While anonymous proxy sites are easy to block, the ease of creating new ones makes it a common go-to for surfers. Many surfers prefer to use the software-based proxy since it will usually offer more security features, such as encrypting the connection and also hiding the port and origin website of the surfer. Anonymous surfing software and websites allow a user to surf anonymously by redirecting their connection through a server which masks the real IP with one generated by the server. Private proxy servers will also rotate IP addresses and randomly refresh so that a user is not constantly surfing with the same IP address. This allows users facing strict censorship to mask their IP address with one from a different country, which will allow the user free reign to surf the Internet.

These methods all give users the opportunity to circumvent restrictions placed on their web surfing. Censors are always looking for ways to keep their restrictions in place and these services can help users fight back against those policing the internet. While in rare occurrences these controls and bans are lifted, it is unlikely that a user will be able to access the World Wide Web freely. Using one of these methods ensures users their internet privacy remains intact and shifts the power back into the hands of the netizens that are being told where they can and can’t surf and what content they are allowed to view.