eQualite has published the release of the mobile web browser CENO 2.0.0 (CEnsorship.NO), designed to provide access to information in conditions of censorship, filtering traffic or disconnecting Internet segments from the global network. The browser is based on the GeckoView engine (used in Firefox for Android), enhanced by the ability to exchange data through a decentralized P2P network, in which users participate in redirecting traffic to external gateways that provide access to information bypassing filters. Project developments are distributed under the MIT license. Ready builds are available on Google Play.
The P2P functionality has been moved to a separate Ouinet library that can be used to add circumvention tools to arbitrary applications. The CENO browser and the Ouinet library allow you to access information in conditions of active blocking of proxy servers, VPNs, gateways and other centralized mechanisms for bypassing traffic filtering, up to the complete shutdown of the Internet in censored areas (with complete blocking, content can be distributed from the cache or local drives) .
The project uses content caching on the side of each user while maintaining a decentralized cache of popular content. When a user opens a site, the downloaded content is cached on the local system and made available to P2P network members who cannot directly access the resource or gateways to bypass blocking. Each device stores only the data directly requested from that device. Pages in the cache are identified using a hash of the URL. All additional data associated with the page, such as images, scripts, and styles, is grouped and served together under one identifier.
To gain access to new content, direct access to which is blocked, special proxy gateways (injectors) are used, which are located in external parts of the network that are not subject to censorship. Information between the client and the gateway is encrypted using public key encryption. Digital signatures are used to identify gateways and prevent the introduction of malicious gateways, and the keys of the gateways supported by the project are included in the browser delivery.
To access the gateway in the conditions of its blocking, a chain connection is supported through other users that act as a proxy for forwarding traffic to the gateway (the data is encrypted with the gateway key, which does not allow transit users through whose systems the request is transmitted to break into the traffic or determine the content ). Client systems do not send external requests on behalf of other users, but either return data from the cache, or are used as a link to establish a tunnel to a proxy gateway.
At first, the browser tries to deliver ordinary requests directly, and if a direct request fails, it searches in a distributed cache. If there is no URL in the cache, the information is requested by connecting to a proxy gateway or accessing the gateway through another user. Sensitive data such as cookies are not cached.
Each system in the P2P network is provided with an internal identifier that is used for routing in the P2P network, but is not tied to the user's physical location. The reliability of information transmitted and stored in the cache is ensured through the use of digital signatures (Ed25519). The transmitted traffic is encrypted using TLS. A distributed hash table (DHT) is used to access information about the network structure, participants, and cached content. If necessary, Β΅TP or Tor can be used as a transport in addition to HTTP.
At the same time, CENO does not provide anonymity and information about the requests sent is available for analysis on the devices of the participants (for example, it can be determined by the hash that the user accessed a particular site). For confidential requests, for example, requiring connection to your account in mail and social networks, it is proposed to use a separate private tab, when using which data is requested only directly or through a proxy gateway, but without accessing the cache and without settling in the cache.
Among the changes in the new release:
- The design of the panel has been changed and the interface of the configurator has been redesigned.
- Provided the ability to define the default behavior of the Clear button and remove the button from the panel and from the menu.
- The configurator now has the ability to clear browser data, including selective deletion according to the list.
- Menu options have been rearranged.
- Options for customizing the interface are placed in a separate submenu.
- Updated Ouinet library version (0.21.5) and Ceno Extension(1.6.1), GeckoView engine and Mozilla libraries synchronized with Firefox for Android 108.
- Added localization for Russian.
- Added settings to manage theme options and search engines.
Source: opennet.ru