xeronet Torrc - v4.0.4 - 'Anti-FiveEyes'. xeronet Torrc is a Client Only configuration. - for the Tor Browser Bundle.

It will not work for Tor Relays, Bridge Nodes or Exit Nodes and nor is it designed to be used for that purpose.

See: https://www.torproject.org/download/download-easy.html

On my xeronet proxy websites I publish a custom torrc configuration which aims to make Tor faster, safer and more secure for regular Tor users.

(I've recently lost my web hosting account with the full config. explanations. New website coming soon!)

I'm working on the latest release, as an update is long overdue, however I've decided to publish this version here for some feedback.

This version helps to prevent FiveEyes spying by avoiding Tor servers located in USA, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

It also helps to avoid censorship by filtering countries that have been found to be using mass censorship of the internet.

The configuration does this by including only the fastest, most stable and secure Tor servers.

UPDATED: 18th March 2015 - Added new fast nodes and revised Exclude nodes. New censorship resistant config. (see latest post below)

Revised country code restriction recommendations: https://bt.irlbtc.com/view/331077.msg10803165#msg10803165

TBB Firefox advised about:config options: https://bt.irlbtc.com/view/331077.msg10804048#msg10804048

The Tor Browser Bundle 3.5 upwards has no Vidalia and uses some new Torrc settings:

DirReqStatistics , DataDirectory and GeoIPFile locations are now written to the torrc on first run.

New torrc-defaults file should remain unedited i.e.


See below posts for info. This is the preferred recommended config. for most users.

Replace the existing torrc file in your Tor Browser Bundle > Data > Tor (folder).


N.B. config. may pause connection if imported before the first run. Just Exit and restart if this happens.

UseEntryGuards (no longer required - as bundle default).

StrictNodes (is auto removed from the conf. if 0 - see below).

FascistFirewall 1 (is recommended for the xeronet Torrc if you can reach the Tor network without using a proxy, as the focus is now on the fastest and safest settings for browsing i.e. using only ports 80 and 443 and corresponding entry and exit servers).

A detailed explanation of the selected settings was published on my old website which is now offline due to the web host closing down.

ExcludeNodes are selected from: http://torstatus.blutmagie.de/ 'bad nodes' and country blocks from: https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship

Many other factors have also been considered with the aim of making Tor faster including excluding relays in countries with slow internet backbone connections etc.

Entry and Exit nodes have been selected based on numerous factors. These are the 'best', fastest and most secure Tor servers available for browsing via ports 80 and 443. They have again been selected from http://torstatus.blutmagie.de/ The nodes are run by the following Privacy focused organizations, who can be trusted with your data, perhaps over and above other miscellaneous Tor nodes.

http://privacyfoundation.ch/ - Swiss Privacy Foundation

https://riseup.net/en - riseup.net

https://www.ccc.de/en/?language=en - Chaos Computer Club (CCC)

https://www.torservers.net/ - torservers.net Partners ...

https://www.accessnow.org/ - Access

https://www.koumbit.org/ - Koumbit

https://effi.org/ - Electronic Frontier Finland

https://nos-oignons.net/ - Nos oignons

https://calyxinstitute.org/ - The Calyx Institute

https://www.dfri.se/dfri/?lang=en - DRFI: "Föreningen för Digitala Fri- och Rättigheter" - DFRI is a nonprofit organisation working for digital rights.

https://www.hartvoorinternetvrijheid.nl/eng.html - Hart voor Internetvrijheid (Heart for Internet freedom).

http://www.enn.lu/ - Frënn vun der Ënn A.S.B.L.

http://icetor.is/ - Icetor - Freedom from the frozen north.

and others ...

Remember that Tor will still select random servers and middle nodes etc. This example config. just helps to enuse the fastest circuits. If you don't like a setting in this example config. then please change it yourself.


Here are the important options from the Tor manual:

Use StrictNodes 1 to enforce the server selection. Currently set to 0 'default'.

"If StrictNodes is set to 1, Tor will treat the ExcludeNodes option as a requirement to follow for all the circuits you generate, even if doing so will break functionality for you. If StrictNodes is set to 0, Tor will still try to avoid nodes in the ExcludeNodes list, but it will err on the side of avoiding unexpected errors. Specifically, StrictNodes 0 tells Tor that it is okay to use an excluded node when it is necessary to perform relay reachability self-tests, connect to a hidden service, provide a hidden service to a client, fulfil a .exit request, upload directory information, or download directory information. (Default: 0)"

You can set StrictNodes to 1 to make browsing faster and completely avoid 'FiveEyes' and internet censored countries, but it will 'break' hidden services if they are located in one of those blocked countries. ~ Ever wondered how the security services locate Tor 'hidden services' ... hummm.

Use FascistFirewall 1 to force port 80 (http) and port 443 (https) access.

"If 1, Tor will only create outgoing connections to ORs running on ports that your firewall allows (defaults to 80 and 443; see FirewallPorts). This will allow you to run Tor as a client behind a firewall with restrictive policies, but will not allow you to run as a server behind such a firewall. If you prefer more fine-grained control, use ReachableAddresses instead."

When using this option do make sure that your selected Nodes use port 80 and/or port 443 Also, if your firewall does allow other ports (or you want to connect other applications to Tor) then we do recommend changing FascistFirewall back to 0, as this will automatically 'unlock' additional fast entry nodes already included in the xeronet Torrc list.

Use UseEntryGuards 1 for increased security.

"If this option is set to 1, we pick a few long-term entry servers, and try to stick with them. This is desirable because constantly changing servers increases the odds that an adversary who owns some servers will observe a fraction of your paths. (Defaults to 1 anyway)"

Use ClientOnly 1 for the Tor Browser Bundle.

"If set to 1, Tor will under no circumstances run as a server or serve directory requests. The default is to run as a client unless ORPort is configured. (Usually, you don’t need to set this; Tor is pretty smart at figuring out whether you are reliable and high-bandwidth enough to be a useful server.) (Default: 0)"

Using additional LongLivedPorts 80, 443, 9001 and 9030.

"A list of ports for services that tend to have long-running connections (e.g. chat and interactive shells). Circuits for streams that use these ports will contain only high-uptime nodes, to reduce the chance that a node will go down before the stream is finished. Note that the list is also honoured for circuits (both client and service side) involving hidden services whose virtual port is in this list. (Default: 21, 22, 706, 1863, 5050, 5190, 5222, 5223, 6523, 6667, 6697, 8300)"

These additions are somewhat experimental, however the overall configuration does seem to work better when including these port settings; especially in relation to the StrictNodes option above where the configuration was found to be much faster overall than when enforcing StrictNodes 1. Thus, we have reverted to using the 'default' StrictNodes 0.

xeronet Torrc - v4.0.4 - 'Anti-FiveEyes'

Requires the latest Tor Browser Bundle for correct operation.

N.B. Save as 'torrc' only and not 'torrc.txt' or just copy paste into your existing torrc file.

Replace the existing torrc file in your Tor Browser Bundle > Data > Tor (folder).

The Tor software must not be running when you install our configuration. Start Tor. Done.

Enjoy super fast Tor !

xeronet Torrc is a Client Only configuration. - for the Tor Browser Bundle.

It will not work for Tor Relays, Bridge Nodes or Exit Nodes and nor is it designed to be used for that purpose.

P.S. I'm looking to set-up some fast Tor servers in censorship resistant countries. If you like this custom Tor configuration please consider a donation until I'm able to set-up a full concept donations page or crowdfunding project.

Thanks!

"Tor" and the "Onion Logo" are registered trademarks of The Tor Project, Inc.

Always Read the Manual: https://www.torproject.org/docs/tor-manual.html > CLIENT OPTIONS