Beat internet network censors with Psiphon

Looking for a way to bypass the network censors either at school or at work? Well, Psiphon may just be the program that you’ve been searching for.

There’s a wide range of ways to circumnavigate the censors on your network, be it the Torpark browser, proxy sites, or anonymizers but, none are as simple and virtually guaranteed to work as is Psiphon.

Developed in a basement lab at the University of Toronto, a team of political scientists, software engineers and computer-hacking activists, or “hactivists,” have created the latest, and some say most advanced tool yet in allowing Internet users to circumvent government censorship of the Web.

The program was created in response to the growing problem of government censorship on the web.

From gambling to news, each country and each network it seems, has its own list of “approved” sites.

Ronald Deibert, director of the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, which created Psiphon notes:

The problem is growing exponentially. What might have started as censorship of pornography and Western news organizations has expanded to include blogging sites, religious sites, health information sites and many others.
Governments have militarized their censorship efforts to an incredible extent so we’re trying to reverse some of that and restore that promise that the Internet once had for unfettered access and communication.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
What is Psiphon?
How Do I Set Up a Psiphonode?
How Do I Connect as a User?
How Anonymous is Psiphon?
Can the Use of Psiphon Be Detected?

What is Psiphon?
Psiphon is a censorship circumvention solution that allows users to access blocked sites in countries where the Internet is censored. Psiphon turns a regular home computer into a personal, encrypted server capable of retrieving and displaying web pages anywhere

It works like this. A user outside a censored country or network downloads and installs the Psiphon program. This “administrator” then creates user accounts with name and passwords that he then distributes to those he wishes to route through his PC. Users can then log onto the PC through an encrypted connection, using it as a proxy to gain access to censored sites and material.

The administrator running the Psiphon node, or “Psiphonode,” is referred to as the “Psiphonode Adminstrator” and is responsible for for creating or managing user accounts and running the Psiphon server on his PC.

The user in a censored country or network is referred to as a “Psiphonite,” or Psiphon user.

Now that we’ve got some of the jargon out of the way it’s time to explain how Psiphon works.

Psiphon acts as a “web proxy” for authenticated psiphonites, retrieving requested web pages and displaying them in a user’s browser. psiphon uses a secure, encrypted connection to receive web requests from the psiphonite to the psiphonode who then transports the results back to the psiphonite. There is no connection between the psiphonite and the requested website, as psiphon transparently proxies the request through the psiphonode’s computer allowing the psiphonite to browse blocked websites seamlessly.

Each Psiphonode is completely decentralized and independent of all others, so even if your IP address, i.e. your Psiphonode address, is blocked, simply install Psiphon on another PC with a different IP address to continue using.

What’s nice too is that it requires NO SOFTWARE INSTALLATION on the part of the “Psiphonites,” or Psiphon users. They simply connect to a unique web address that is a composition of your IP address, connection port, and Psiphonode name.

How Do I Set Up a Psiphonode?

After first downloading and installing the program, start by selecting the “Setup” tab.

Next choose a name for your Psiphonode as well as a port for users to connect through. Make sure to test that the port is “open” by selecting the “Test” button. If your PC’s running behind a router you may need to “forward your ports.”

Its then time to add users, which we will do so by selecting the “Add” tab.

Start by selecting a username and password. The remaining options are for your own informational purposes only and are not required to create a user account.

How Do I Connect as a User?

To connect as a user, or “Psiphonite,” start by typing the address that the Psiphonode Administrator sent to you.

It will be as follows:

http://(IP address):(port)/(node name)
EX: http://88.106.20.546:12000/123fakenode

Type your username and passwword in the login boxes provided and then click “submit.”

You should then be connected and able to navigate to pages and sites of your choice.

You can even bookmark pages if you so desire using the “Add Bookmark” button as shown below.

Additionally, to manage your bookmarks select the “My Bookmarks” tab as pictured here.

How Anonymous is Psiphon?

The traffic between the Psiphon Administrator and the the user is completely encrypted however, the Administrator can view the logs of the user’s web traffic. So don’t use it to check out anything you don’t want the the Administrator to see, i.e. porn and what not.

Psiphon also recommends that to maximize protection against the discovery of the PSiphon user’s true IP address, all scripting languages, such as JavaScript and ActiveX, should be turned off in the user’s browser.

Can the Use of Psiphon Be Detected?

The key to detecting Psiphon is infiltration of the Psiphon Administrator’s social network, which as long as the Administrator guards against it it is tough to crack.

The site reads:

From a technical perspective traffic between the psiphonode and the psiphonite is identical to normal HTTPS (encrypted) traffic. Although many sites only use HTTPS during the login process many sites, such as email providers and banking services, use HTTPS for extended periods of time, as does psiphon.
The differences are that psiphon uses self-signed certificates and connections to home computers, rather than signed certificates and domain names. However, unless the attacker has the private psiphon URL it cannot be easily determined that psiphon is being used.

If you’ve been repeatedly foiled by network administrators’ efforts to block all but the most tame and boring of sites, then Psiphon is a program you should definitely consider checking out.

As proof, my brother has been unable to check out his precious MySpace page and Howard Stern website at work. Some proxies and anonymizers would work for a time but, then would quickly be updated and blocked. With this, at least so far, it’s been clear sailing. Sadly it’s not as noble a purpose as its creators intended but, it’s being used to fight censorship nonetheless right?

So whether it’s for use at work, at school, or even meddling parents I guess, Psiphon’s the way to go. You can even set it up at home for your own personal use while at work or school.

UPDATE:

As an interesting note, I recently received some feedback regarding this article before it’s publication here on Zeropaid from a gentleman in China who knows first hand the rigors of beating internet censorship. I’ve kept his name anonymous for obvious reasons and will refer to him as “John Doe.” His English isn’t perfect but hey, it’s way better than my Mandarin Chinese any day.

JOHN DOE: Though it’s designed by Ron Deibert who dreams was topple the Chinese government to build on the network’s “Great Wall”,i still want to use it.because i’m at *****,and if i want to visit the foreign website,i must spend some money on it.
P.S. i love my country.

ME: Looks like I’m not the only one who likes the look of this. Information is VERY important for all of us if we are to learn the real truth about ourselves and each other…..BTW I love Chinese food. The country’s cool too.

JOHN DOE: Yes,you said it.^_^ but now the problem is i can’t download it,because i can’t visit its website.the only thing i can do now,is waiting & waiting“`if i lucky enough and i can get a fit proxy ip.

Needless to say, I’ll be lending a helping hand here. It’s not too often that you have a chance to use a program that allows you to do something with such a higher purpose for others. I daresay this marks the true start of my holiday season.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PSIPHON

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