3 ms·

i’m not sure why. if someone is already using the tor network, presumably they could use it to bypass censorship to access the clearnet bbc site.

Xophmeister 7y ago
From TFA: While the Tor browser can be used to access the regular version of the BBC News website, using the .onion site has additional benefits. "Onion services take load off scarce exit nodes, preserve end-to-end encryption [and] the self-authenticating domain name resists spoofing," explained Prof Steven Murdoch, a cyber-security expert from University College London.
oskenevd 7y ago
Because so much of the bbc website is http, today, in 2019. At least you now get TLS between the browser and the bbc server. Accessing bbc over Tor normally leaks cleartext http to the exit nodes.
- toby- 7y ago
  The vast majority of the BBC's services use HTTPS nowadays, including BBC News, BBC Bitesize, Sounds/Radio, CBBC and CBeebies, etc. Only pre-2010 news stories are HTTP. The only other parts that remain HTTP (that I've seen) are certain archived content, e.g. the older Learning[0] and Languages[1] portals. [0]: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/coursesearch/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/coursesearch/ [1]: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/
  - Sami_Lehtinen 7y ago
    Here's fresh article which refuses to be served over HTTPS. get "https://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20191021-the-sea-of-60-ghostly-wrecked-ships" https://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20191021-the-sea-of-60-ghos... Location: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20191021-the-sea-of-60-ghostly-wrecked-ships http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20191021-the-sea-of-60-ghost... BBC is one of very few sites on my HTTP allowed list. By default I've disabled HTTP completely.
- oarsinsync 7y ago
  This very BBC news article is delivered as HTTPS, and if you try to reach it as HTTP, you'll be redirected to HTTPS.
- LinuxBender 7y ago
  They can get a cert for .onion from Digicert.
  - nyolfen 7y ago
    isn't a .onion address the hash of a self-signed cert?
Xelbair 7y ago
if i recall right you shouldn't access clearnet sites from tor if you want privacy. Might be wrong - last time i used tor was ages ago.
jmkni 7y ago
https://security.stackexchange.com/q/81620/6838 https://security.stackexchange.com/q/81620/6838

Xophmeister 7y ago

From TFA: While the Tor browser can be used to access the regular version of the BBC News website, using the .onion site has additional benefits. "Onion services take load off scarce exit nodes, preserve end-to-end encryption [and] the self-authenticating domain name resists spoofing," explained Prof Steven Murdoch, a cyber-security expert from University College London.

oskenevd 7y ago

Because so much of the bbc website is http, today, in 2019. At least you now get TLS between the browser and the bbc server. Accessing bbc over Tor normally leaks cleartext http to the exit nodes.

toby- 7y ago
The vast majority of the BBC's services use HTTPS nowadays, including BBC News, BBC Bitesize, Sounds/Radio, CBBC and CBeebies, etc. Only pre-2010 news stories are HTTP. The only other parts that remain HTTP (that I've seen) are certain archived content, e.g. the older Learning[0] and Languages[1] portals. [0]: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/coursesearch/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/coursesearch/ [1]: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/
- Sami_Lehtinen 7y ago
  Here's fresh article which refuses to be served over HTTPS. get "https://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20191021-the-sea-of-60-ghostly-wrecked-ships" https://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20191021-the-sea-of-60-ghos... Location: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20191021-the-sea-of-60-ghostly-wrecked-ships http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20191021-the-sea-of-60-ghost... BBC is one of very few sites on my HTTP allowed list. By default I've disabled HTTP completely.
oarsinsync 7y ago
This very BBC news article is delivered as HTTPS, and if you try to reach it as HTTP, you'll be redirected to HTTPS.
LinuxBender 7y ago
They can get a cert for .onion from Digicert.
- nyolfen 7y ago
  isn't a .onion address the hash of a self-signed cert?

Xelbair 7y ago

if i recall right you shouldn't access clearnet sites from tor if you want privacy. Might be wrong - last time i used tor was ages ago.

jmkni 7y ago

https://security.stackexchange.com/q/81620/6838 https://security.stackexchange.com/q/81620/6838