After a year of development, the CENO 2.1.0 mobile web browser has been released. It is designed to provide access to information in situations where direct access is impossible, such as when segments of the internet are disconnected from the global network due to failures or malicious activity. The browser is built on the GeckoView engine (used in Firefox for Android), expanded with the ability to exchange data via a decentralized P2P network, in which users participate in redirecting traffic to external gateways that provide access to information. The project's developments are distributed under the MIT license. Complete builds are available on Google Play.
P2P functionality is included in a separate Ouinet library, which can be used in arbitrary applications. The CENO browser and the Ouinet library allow you to access information in situations up to a complete Internet shutdown, for example, as a result of global outages. In this case, content can be distributed from the cache or local storage.
The project uses per-user content caching, maintaining a decentralized cache of popular content. When a user opens a site, the downloaded content is cached locally and made available to P2P network participants who cannot directly access the resource or gateways. Each device only stores data directly requested from that device. Identification of pages in the cache is carried out using a hash from the URL. All additional data associated with the page, such as images, scripts and styles, are grouped and served together under one identifier.
To gain access to new content that is not directly accessible, special proxy gateways (injectors) are used, which are located in external, undamaged parts of the network in which it is still possible to establish a connection. 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 conditions of its direct inaccessibility, a chain connection is supported through other users who act as proxies 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 wedge into the traffic or determine 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, µTP 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 browser engine is synchronized with Firefox 123.1.0 components.
- Improved indication of content download sources.
- Dark mode is enabled by default.
- Added a setting for exporting complete logs of the application.
- Added a page to wait for connection during startup.
- Added a setting to control whether bridge mode is enabled.
- Updated default list of recommended sites.
Source: opennet.ru
