Tor Browser Adds Ability to Automatically Bypass Internet Censorship

Tor Browser is a special browser that allows users to access information on the internet anonymously and ensure privacy. This is maintained by The Onion Router (Tor) network.

Tor routes traffic through nodes on the network, encrypting data at every step. It connects to its destination through an exit node that is used to relay information back to the user.

The new version 11.5 has just been released, bringing the following notable updates:

Automatically bypass censorship

The updates in Tor Browser 11.5 focus on bypassing censorship, a process that began a year ago in version 10.5. It promises to improve the Tor connection experience.

In the new version, users no longer have to manually try bridge configurations to unblock Tor.

That's because Tor Browser version 11.5 comes with a new feature called "Connection Assist" that automatically assigns the best working bridge configuration for the user's location.

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"Connection Assist automatically looks up and downloads an up-to-date list of country-specific options based on your location (with your permission)," the release notes state. Since Connection Assist is in early development, Tor is keen to get feedback and reports from users to help them troubleshoot issues and improve the system.

HTTPS is enabled by default

Another important new feature in version 11.5 is "HTTPS-Only Mode" being set as the default browsing mode. This allows the connection to be routed through a secure tunnel.

This way, all data exchanged between the user and the website hosting server will be encrypted to protect against man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks and protect users from SSL tripping attacks.

The Tor team assures users that SecureDrop will continue to function despite the deprecation and replacement of the HTTPS-Everywhere extension.

More intuitive settings

The third significant improvement in Tor Browser 11.5 is that the Network Settings menu has been renamed to Connection Settings. The settings and interface have also been changed to make it easier for users to find and understand specific settings.

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