SCION Browser Extension

The SCION Browser extension provides access to HTTP(S) resources via SCION by using skip as configured proxy for all SCION-enabled domains.

The following components are required:

• SCION Browser Extension: Extensions for Chromium based browsers (Firefox later) that enable SCION connectivity
• Skip: SCION forwarding proxy

Setup

In alpha stage, the following steps are required to configure the SCION Browser Extension.

Build and start skip

To use the SCION Browser Extension, skip must run on the SCION host.

Install extension

Note: At the moment, we support only chromium based browsers (e.g. Chrome, Brave), other browsers will follow. To install the browser extension, download the latest release and unzip the archive. Then navigate to Extensions->Manage Extensions. On the upper right corner, enable Developer Mode. Then click the Load unpacked button and select the chrome folder in the unzipped folder. The SCION Browser Extension appears now in your list of extensions. To get started, enable the SCION Browser Extension icon and enable SCION forwarding.

Note: The error indicating that the manifest is deprecated does not impact the functionality. We will fix this in one of the upcoming versions.

Usage

The SCION Browser Extension can work in two modes: In the default mode, the extension loads resources via SCION for SCION-enabled domains and for the rest, it loads them via BGP/IP.

In the strict mode, only resources from SCION-enabled domains are loaded.

Geofencing (Whitelisting)

To configure the ISD whitelist, press the Options button. SCION traffic will traverse only those ASes that have been enabled using the toggle button.

For instance, in the image above SCION traffic will be forwarded through ISD-19 in EU and the ISD-17 in Switzerland.

Path usage information

The extension provides path information to the user about the path used during the connection. It provides visual information about the ISD traversed, the exchanged data amount and detailed information about the traversed ASes.

SCION-enabled Domains on the SCIONLab network

• Mirror of scionlab.org: http://www.scionlab.org
• Mirror of scion-architecture.net: http://www.scion-architecture.net
• Mirror of netsys.ovgu.de: https://www.netsys.ovgu.de

Additional domains via the host file

One can also manually add SCION Addresses for specific domains to either the /etc/scion/hosts or the /etc/hosts file, e.g.,:

17-ffaa:0:1101,129.132.121.164 www.yourdomain.org