The development team of the popular web browser focused on user privacy and anonymity, has released the new version Tor 0.4.0.5, with which new improvements are added to the browser as well as bug fixes around its previous version.
For those who are still unfamiliar with the Tor web browser, you should know that This is a standalone and cross-platform web browser, it is based on Firefox.
Tor is based on a goal, Which is creating a network communications in which the identity and data of users is protected, which does not reveal its identity, that is, its IP address and also maintains the integrity and secrecy of the information that travels through it.
This new version of Tor 0.4.0.5 is recognized as the first stable release of branch 0.4.0, which has been developing for the past four months.
Main new features of Tor 0.4.0.5
With this new release of Tor 0.4.0.5 it excels in client-side implementation, added a power saving mode, whereby during prolonged inactivity (24 hours or more), the client enters a sleep state, which stops network activity and does not consume CPU resources.
The return to normal mode occurs after a request from the user or upon receipt of a control command.
To control the resume from sleep mode after a reboot, DormantOnFirst startup configuration is suggested (to immediately return to sleep mode, without waiting for the next 24 hours of inactivity).
Other novelties that stand out in this new release is the implementation of the detailed information about the Tor startup process (bootstrap), which allows you to assess the causes of startup delays without waiting for the end of the connection process.
Previously, the information was only displayed after the connection was completed, but the startup process with certain problems would hang or could take place for hours, creating a sense of uncertainty.
Now, reports of emerging issues and release status are displayed as progress progresses through the various stages. Displays information about the status of the connection through a proxy and connected transports separately.
In addition to it initial support for adaptive incremental padding was implemented (WTF-PAD - Adaptive Padding) to combat indirect methods of determining the facts of access to hidden sites and services by analyzing the characteristics of packet flows and the delays between them inherent to specific sites and services.
The implementation includes state machines that operate on a statistical probability distribution for packet delay substitution to smooth traffic. The new mode is currently working in experimental mode only. Currently, only chain-level filling is implemented.
Of the other novelties that stand out, we find:
An explicit list of Tor subsystems called during initialization and shutdown has been added. Previously, these subsystems were controlled from different places in the codebase and their use was unstructured.
A new API has been implemented to manage child processes, which enables a two-way communication channel between child processes on Unix-like systems and on Windows.
Added an option ClientAutoIPv6ORPort, to make clients randomly prefer an IPv4 or IPv6 ORPort node.
Random preference is set each time a node is loaded from a new consensus or bridge configuration.
As a result, this option is expected to allow clients to boot up more quickly without having to determine whether they support IPv4, IPv6, or both.
How to install Tor Browser on Ubuntu and derivatives?
For those who are interested in being able to install the browser, they can do so by following the instructions that we share below.
First we will have to open the terminal and execute the following commands:
wget https://dist.torproject.org/tor-0.4.0.5.tar.gz tar -xvf tor-0.4.0.5.tar.gz
Then we place ourselves inside the folder that we unzip and execute:
cd tor-0.4.0.5 ./configure make make install