In early 2016, we discussed a torrent portal called Play that has a very special feature: it cannot be closed or blocked. Its secret lies in the use of a P2P network called ZeroNet, which combines the power of decentralization with the anonymity of Tor. Today we decided to download the latest version of ZeroNet to take a quick look at its popular sites and explore other aspects like speed and stability.
Why ZeroNet?
We all agree that there are plenty of reasons to want a more private and anonymous web browsing. Big Data needs to eat, and the number of services and apps that record our activity is growing. Whether the idea is to analyze your behavior, train artificial intelligences, or try to sell you something, the system is there, in the background, waiting. The first line of defense are networks that obfuscate browsing, such as Tor. Its use requires some compromises and habit changes, but it fulfills its goal (in most cases) and receives regular updates. The alternative is to redirect our activity to specialized P2P networks, where each visitor stores partial or total copies of websites, thus avoiding dedicated servers. One of those networks is ZeroNet.
How to get into ZeroNet
Getting into ZeroNet is much easier than you imagine. Download the client from its official page, open the executable, and you'll automatically go to the main page of ZeroNet using your default browser. The 'addresses' of pages on ZeroNet are defined by a special key, and navigation is protected under a combination of three technologies: peer-to-peer, Tor (more details below), and Bitcoin-based cryptography. The larger the number of peers 'sharing' a page, the greater the security. The welcome portal is ZeroHello, and there we'll find links to other sites like the social network ZeroMe, the ZeroMail encrypted email service, the ZeroTalk forum inspired by Reddit, and ZeroSites, which lets us discover more sites on the network.
Exploring ZeroSites
Inside ZeroSites, links appear divided into nine categories, while the rest fall under 'Other'. The interface isn't particularly comfortable, but it would be worse for our experience if we had nothing like this. In the categories you can find clones of 4chan (typical), many Chinese portals, the Kaffeine search engine with an average of 1,200 sites in its database, a GitHub mirror on ZeroNet, the occasional online game (like the classic 2048), and more. Some sites have loading errors, and others seem abandoned, but the rest are updated enough or retain their functionality. By far, the page that worked best during my tests was the aforementioned Play for downloading torrents.
Ports and Tor configuration
Besides the errors I detected while loading certain portals, I also noticed that ZeroNet has trouble registering my open ports. From a technical point of view, opening a port in ZeroNet is not mandatory, but if you want to browse a bit faster or create your own site on the network, it's recommended. The port is modified by editing the zeronet.conf file inside the temporary folder that contains the client. Another point to consider is enabling Tor. In its factory configuration, ZeroNet is as transparent as any other BitTorrent service, and although we can activate Tor, we'll receive an 'insecure browser' warning. To use ZeroNet with Tor Browser it's necessary to modify its configuration following the guide that is here.
Is ZeroNet for you?
So we've reached the end. Is ZeroNet for everyone? The answer is no. Its content isn't very well organized, and it requires additional adjustments if we want the best combination of privacy and anonymity. On the other hand, ZeroNet keeps its original promise: attacks and traditional blocking processes cannot affect its sites, because in the end each user acts as a 'mini server', so to speak. Who knows? Maybe you'll find something that interests you in its halls. Download a copy, and don't forget to try it.
