Tor Browser 11.5, an essential release from the Tor Project, has been released by the Tor Project team. It includes new features that will help users fight censorship.
Tor Browser was created to allow users to access sites via The Onion Router network (Tor). It offers anonymity and privacy for information access.
This is done by routing traffic through the network and encryption it at each step. Finally, an exit node is used to relay information to the user to ensure that the connection reaches its destination.
Bypassing Autoblock (Demo)
Updates to Tor Browser 11.5 are focused on bypassing censorship. This process began a year ago with version 10.5 and improved the Tor connection experience.
Users no longer need to manually test bridge configurations to unblock Tor with the new version.
Tor Browser 11.5 now includes a new “Connection Assist” feature that automatically assigns the best bridge configuration for the user’s specific location.
The release announced that “Connection Assist” works by downloading and looking up a list of country-specific options for you to use (with your permission).
“It does this without having to connect to Tor Network first. Instead, it uses moat; the same domain-fronting tool Tor Browser uses to request bridges from torproject. org.
Connection Assist (v1.0) is still in its early stages of development. The Tor team welcomes user feedback and reports to help improve the system.
By Default, HTTPS is Enabled.
Version 11.5 also includes a new feature: ‘HTTPS Only Mode’ is now the default browsing mode. This ensures that your connection is secure and encrypted.
This protects against attacks by a man-in-the-middle (MitM) and prevents users from being spoofed by malicious exit relays.
The Tor team can assure users that SecureDrop will continue working as intended, despite the removal and replacement of HTTPS-Everywhere, which served as an onion number interpreter.
The only exception to replacing HTTPS-Everywhere with the new HTTPS-Only Mode is Android, which has generally fallen behind.
Tor’s developers admitted this was the case and promised to continue working on Android. They will release updates more often, fix the many bugs that have built up, and catch up with Fenix (Firefox Android) releases.
More Comfortable Settings
Tor Browser 11.5’s third significant improvement is the heavily revamped Network Settings menu. Now called “Connection Settings,” it should be easier to locate and understand specific settings.
The main change was in the design of bridge configurations and connection options to make it easier to review and manage.
The new interface uses emojis to display saved Bridges. This allows for visualization of the configuration, making it easier to find the correct bridge and choose it when needed.
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