Thread: BitBlinder

Does anybody here use BitBlinder ?
How does it Work?

BitBlinder mixes your Internet traffic with the traffic of everyone else in the BitBlinder network. That way, no one can can know where you go or what you do online.



Normally, whenever you visit a website, your computer reveals your IP address to the site and anyone else who might be watching. This means that your Internet Service Provider or someone on your wireless network can see everything you do online. Even encryption, which hides the contents of the pages you view, does not prevent this attack on your privacy. These examples apply equally well to BitTorrent where even more third parties (eg peers and trackers) know your identity.
Your ISP and neighbors watching you go to a website.



BitBlinder works by having a peer in our network act as a proxy for you. Instead of requesting a page from the website itself, BitBlinder asks the peer to get the page and send it back to you. Since the connection to the peer is encrypted, eavesdroppers don't know what information you sent--they don't even know that you visited the website! Of course, the website itself doesn't know you exist since it received the request from your peer, not you.



Sending traffic through a BitBlinder peer.



The previous setup does help guard your privacy, but it can still get better. In the last setup, the peer knows who you are and the website you visited--everything he needs to compromise your identity! BitBlinder offers even stronger protection for those who need it by using multiple peers in a row. Instead of simply asking your peer to go to the website for you, BitBlinder now asks your peer to send your request through two other peers. This way, each peer only knows the previous and next person to talk to, so no one can figure out both your identity and the website that you went to.
Sending traffic through multiple BitBlinder peers.



Another great benefit of proxying Internet traffic is that it also helps avoid filters. Filters generally work by restricting access to certain IP addresses. BitBlinder naturally avoids this type of filter since your requests are going to a random peer, not the blocked site. Of course, filtering in real life is much more complicated and BitBlinder may or may not help in your situation.

Overview

And if you use this does your computer become a peer that others will use to access dodgy sites?

Looks like it.

But this appears to be the future of P2P. Get in on the ground floor as a peer or have to pay later as a client.

Does it really slow things down like TOR does?

Q: What is Tor? Why should I use BitBlinder if Tor is free?

A: Tor is a great open source project for providing anonymity online. Unfortunately, the Tor network is very slow because there is no incentive for anyone to be a Tor relay. BitBlinder is a lot like Tor, except that we give users an incentive to be part of our network. With BitBlinder, whenever you provide service for someone else, you get fast service for yourself in return (instead of the universally slow for everyone Tor service)! Our micropayment system ensures that you get rewarded for contributing to the network.
Another difference is that Tor is not meant to be used for BitTorrent. The developers actively discourage its use on the Tor network, and it is very difficult to configure yourself. BitBlinder comes with a BitTorrent client and web browser that are already configured for use with our network. Our goal is to make BitBlinder as easy to use as possible. You just install it and click on the shortcut, and it works--no configuration necessary. Try BitBlinder out and see for yourself how easy it is to use!
http://bitblinder.com/learn/faq/

What are you getting out of this?

Nothing. I was thinking of giving it a try to see what the effect on download speed is but though I'd ask incase anyone here was using it already. The trend on internet censorship in Thailand implies that some kind of proxy will be needed soon just to do normal stuff like stealing movies.

The question about the possibility being used by another user as a proxy to access illegal sites needs answered first.

This is exactly the same as TOR but intended for torrent traffic.
They are now trying to overcome one of TORs two flaws, that overall speed will equal the speed of the slowest node in the chain, and they do it by giving incentives to speedy nodes.
TORs second and most serious flaw is that someone has to be the last node in the chain, the node that is responsible for the connection to the end point and where no encryption can be used.
You want to be the last node Begbie?

Appears to be an option not to act as an exit node. Someone has to do it though or the whole network will scream to a halt.

Below from the BitBlinder forum

BitBlinder • View topic - 'Relay' and 'exit' option

Currently, you have the option of not running an exit relay- you can function as a middle or entry relay. Naturally, exit relays are in far higher demand so they make money much more quickly which we think is a decent incentive; at some point in the future, we may have clients pay exit relays more.

Ultimately, all sorts of traffic will flow through your exit node, some of which may be unsavory to you; I have no idea where you live nor would I attempt to offer you legal advice on the matter in any case. Right now, the vast majority of all traffic in terms of bandwidth is bit torrent, with web browsing coming in second- a few people also use it for IRC though BB can support any application that supports socks proxies.

Having said that, Jash and I both run exit relays and also have an open wireless network as well; I truly believe that the internet is a better place for all of us when everyone has free access to it.

This sounds pretty good, but PC only right? No Mac option?

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

This sounds pretty good, but PC only right? No Mac option?

Probably. Not many programmers are interested in dead technology nowadays.

You're so funny!