How the Great Firewall of China is Blocking Tor

Abstract

Internet censorship in China is not just limited to the web: the Great Firewall of China prevents thousands of potential Tor users from accessing the network. In this paper, we investigate how the blocking mechanism is implemented, we conjecture how China's Tor blocking infrastructure is designed and we propose circumvention techniques. Our work bolsters the understanding of China's censorship capabilities and thus paves the way towards more effective circumvention techniques.