Optimizing Tor Bridge Distribution

Abstract: The Onion Router (Tor) is a good way to have privacy and anonymity while using the Internet. However there are several problems it has to deal with, because it is also possible to bypass governmental censorship, which also became goal of the Tor network. By different techniques several governments and other parties who have the capability to, try to block the network completely. One technique is to overwhelm the distribution strategies for bridges – which are an essential part of the Tor network, especially for censored users. Hereby a possible approach for distributing bridges via online social networks (OSN) is presented. It is based on the Proximax distribution but has also the capability to separate and exclude possible adversaries who managed to join the social group. Moreover trustful users get rewarded by a better status and less waiting time for bridges.