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<h2>NLnet Project: Speed Up Tor Hidden Services</h2>
<hr />
<p>
Tor Hidden Services allow users to set up anonymous information services,
like websites, that can only be accessed through the Tor network and are
protected against identification of the host that runs the services.
The most critical limitations of Tor Hidden Services are the time it takes
until a Hidden Service is registered in the network and the latency of
contact establishment when accessed by a user.
Due to design issues in the original Tor protocol,
the connection to a new Hidden Service can take several minutes, which
leads most users to give up before the connection has been established.
Using Tor Hidden Services for direct interactive user-to-user
communication (e.g. messaging) is nearly impossible due to the high latency
of Hidden Service circuit setup.
</p>
<p>
This project aims at speeding up Tor Hidden Services by improving the way
Tor circuits are set up between the user and the Hidden Service as well as
the way a Hidden Service is registered in the Tor network.
In a first step precise diagnostics of the behavior of the Hidden Services
in lab setups and real world situations will be conducted to find the
root causes of the bad timing effects.
Based on these diagnostics, optimization strategies will be designed and
verified for unwanted implications for the security and anonymity of the
Tor network.
The most promising optimizations will then be implemented to achieve a
notable improvement for the users. Precise success metrics will be
developed in the diagnostics phase, after it becomes clear where the time
is lost and what improvements are realistic.
The ultimate goal is to have the Hidden Services protocol change production
ready and propagated to the Tor users within a timeframe of less than
12 months.
</p>
<p>
This project is generously funded by:
</p>