Need to hire an assassin, buy some contraband, view illegal porn, or just bypass government, corporate, or identity thief snooping? Tor is your answer. Tor, which stands for "The Onion Router" is not a product, but a protocol that lets you hide your Web browsing as though it were obscured by the many layers of an onion. The most common way to view the so-called Dark Web that comprises Tor sites is by using the Tor Browser, a modded version of Mozilla Firefox. Using this Web browser also hides your location, IP address, and other identifying data from regular websites. Accessing Tor has long been beyond the ability of the average user. Tor Browser manages to simplify the process of protecting your identity onlinebut at the price of performance.
What Is Tor?If you're thinking that Tor comes from a sketchy group of hackers, know that its core technology was developed by the U.S. Naval Research Lab and D.A.R.P.A.. The Tor Project non-profit receives sizeable donations from various federal entities such as The National Science Foundation. The Tor Project has a page listing many examples of legitimate types of Tor users, such as political dissidents in countries with tight control over the Internet and individuals concerned about personal privacy.
Tor won't encrypt your datafor that, you'll need a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Instead, Tor routes your Internet traffic through a series of intermediary nodes. This makes it very difficult for government snoops or aggressive advertisers to track you online. Using Tor affords far more privacy than other browsers' private (or Incognito) modes, since it obscures your IP address so that you can't be tracked with it. Standard browsers' private browsing modes discard your cached pages and browsing history after your browsing session. Even Firefox's new, enhanced private browsing mode doesn't hide your identifiable IP address from the sites you visit, though it does prevent them tracking you based on cookies.
Starting UpConnecting to the Tor network entails more than just installing a browser and firing up websites. You need to install support code, but luckily, the free Tor Browser bundle streamlines the process. Installers are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Tor Project recommends installing the browser on a USB drive for more anonymity and portability; the drive needs to have 80MB free space.
We tested a standard Windows installer, with choices to create desktop icons and run the browser immediately. The browser itself is a heavily modified version of Firefox 38.5 (as of this writing), and includes several security plug-ins as well as security tweaks such as not caching any website data. For a full rundown of the PCMag Editors' Choice browser's many features, read our full review of Firefox.
Before merrily browsing along anonymously, you need to inform Tor about your Web connection. If your Internet connection is censored, you configure one way, if not, you can connect directly to the network. Since we live in a free society and work for benevolent corporate overlords, we connected directly for testing. After connecting to the Tor relay system (a dialog with a progress bar appears at this stage), the browser launches, and you see the Tor project's page.
InterfaceThe browser's home page includes a plea for financial support to the project, a search box using the anonymized Disconnect.me search, and a Test Tor Network Settings link. Hitting the latter loads a page that indicates whether you're successfully anonymized. We recommend taking this step. The page even shows your apparent IP addressapparent because it's by no means your actual IP address. We verified this by opening Microsoft Edge and checking our actual IP address on Web search sites. The two addresses couldn't have been more different, because the Tor Browser reports the IP address of a Tor node.
The browser interface is identical with Firefox, except with some necessary add-ons installed. NoScript, a commonly used Firefox add-on, is preinstalled and can be used to block most non-HTML content on the Web. The green onion button to the left of the address bar is the Torbutton add-on. It lets you see your Tor network settings, but also the circuit you're using: Our circuit started in Germany and passed through two different addresses in the Netherlands before reaching the good old Internet. If that doesn't suit you, you can request a new circuit, either for the current session or for the current site. This was one of our favorite features.
One thing we really like about the Tor Browser is how it makes existing security and privacy tools easier to use. NoScript, for example, can be a harsh mistress, who can be difficult to configure, and can break websites. But a security panel in the Torbutton presents you with a simple security slide. At the lowest, default setting, all browser features are enabled. At the highest setting, all JavaScript and even some image types are blocked, among other settings. This makes it easy to raise or lower the level of protection you need, without having to muck around in multiple settings windows.
Everything you do in the browser is tested for anonymity: When we tried full-screening the browser window, a message told us that that could provide sites a way to track us, and recommended leaving the window at the default size. And the project's site specifically states that using Tor alone doesn't guarantee anonymity, but rather that you have to abide by safe browsing guidelines: don't use BitTorrent, don't install additional browser add-ons, don't open documents or media while online. The recommendation to only visit secure HTTPS sites is optionally enforced by a plug-in called HTTPS Everywhere.
Even if you follow these recommendations, though, someone could detect the simple fact that you're using Tor, unless you set it up to use a Tor bridge relay. Those are not listed in the Tor directory, so hackers (and governments) would have more trouble finding them.
One thing we noticed while browsing the standard Web through Tor was the need to enter a CAPTCHA to access many sites. This is because your cloaked URL looks suspicious to website security services such as CloudFlare, used by millions of sites to protect themselves. It's just one more price you pay for anonymity.
We also had trouble finding the correct version of websites we wished to visit. Directing the Tor Browser to PCMag.com, for example, took us to the Netherlands localization of our website. We could not find any way to direct us back to the main URL, which lets you access the U.S. site.
The Dark WebYou can use Tor to anonymize browsing to standard websites, of course, but there's a whole hidden network of sites that don't appear on the standard Web at all, and are only visible if you're using a Tor connection. You can read all about it in our feature, Inside the Dark Web. If you use a standard search engine, even one anonymized by Disconnect.me, you just see standard websites. By the way, you may improve your privacy by switching to an anonymous search provider such as DuckDuckGo or Startpage.com. DuckDuckGo even offers a hidden search version, and Sinbad Search is only available through Tor. Ahmia is another search engine, on the open Web, for finding hidden Tor sites, with the twist of only showing sites that are on the up-and-up.
Tor hidden sites have URLs that end in .onion, preceded by 16 alphanumeric characters. You can find directories of these hidden sites with categories resembling the good old days of Yahoo. There's even a Tor Links Directory page (on the regular Web) that's a directory of these directories. There are many chat and message boards, but you even find directories of things like lossless audio files, video game hacks, and financial services such as anonymous bitcoin, and even a Tor version of Facebook. Many onion sites are very slow or completely downkeep in mind that they're not run by deep-pocketed Web companies. Very often we clicked an onion link only to be greeted with an "Unable to Connect" error. Sinbad helpfully displays a red "Offline on last crawl" bullet to let you know that a site is probably nonfunctional.
Speed and CompatibilityWebpage loading time under Tor is typically far slower than browsing with a standard Internet connection. It's really not possible to state definitively by how much your browsing will be slowed down if you use Tor, because it depends on the particular relay servers your traffic is being routed through. And this can change every time for every browsing session. As a very rough rule of thumb, however, PCMag.com took 11.3 seconds to load in Firefox and 28.7 seconds in the Tor Browser, at the same time, over the same FiOS connection on the open Web. Your mileage, of course, will vary.
As for browser benchmarks, the results hew to Firefox's own performance, with near-leading performance on all the major JavaScript tests, JetStream and Octane, for example. On our test laptop, the Tor Browser scored 20,195 on Octane, compared with 22,297 for standard Firefoxnot a huge difference. The Tor network routing is a far more significant factor in browsing performance than browser JavaScript speed. That is, unless you've blocked all JavaScript.
Keep in mind, though, that the Tor Browser is based on the Firefox Extended Support Release versions, which updates less frequently so that large organizations have time to maintain their custom code. That means you don't get quite the latest in Firefox performance and features, but security updates are delivered at the same time as new main versions.
There's a similar story when it comes to standards compatibility: On the HTML5Test.com site, which quantifies the number of new Web standards supported by a browser, the Tor Browser gets a score of 412, compared with 468 for the latest Firefox version. You may run into incompatible sites, though. For example, none of the Internet speed connection test sites performed correctly in the Tor Browser.
Tor, Browser of ThunderWith the near complete lack of privacy on today's Web, Tor is becoming more and more necessary. It lets you browse the Web knowing that all those tracking services aren't watching your every move. Most of us have experienced how an ad follows you from site to site, just because you clicked on, or searched for a product or service once. All that goes away.
Of course, you pay a price of extra setup and slower performance with the Tor Browser, but it's less onerous than you may think. And the included support for fine-grain privacy and security protection is excellent. If you take your online privacy seriously, you owe it to yourself to check out the Tor Browser. For standard, full-speed Web browsing, however, check out PCMag Editors' Choice Web browser, Firefox.
See the article here:
Tor Browser Review & Rating | PCMag.com
- Tor - Official Site [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Tor Browser (M-S0FT) - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Downloading torrents in utorrent using tor browser - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Tor Browser installieren [Tutorial deutsch] - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- TOR BROWSER KURULUM+KULLANIM - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- tor browser descargar e instalar - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Entering the Deep Web-Deep Web Url link (2014) - Video [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2014]
- Red Onion Tor Browser for iPhone - Video [Last Updated On: May 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 10th, 2014]
- working referral link to agora hidden market place -new url ( onion site ) - Video [Last Updated On: May 12th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 12th, 2014]
- Tor Browser Free Download/Install|Free Latest Version|64/32 bit Windows|2014 - Video [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2014]
- how to install TOR Browser On LINUX - Video [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2014]
- Grams Darknet black market search engine demo - Video [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2014]
- How to Install the New Tor Browser in Kali Linux - Video [Last Updated On: May 18th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 18th, 2014]
- How to download and use Tor browser [4K] - Video [Last Updated On: May 20th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 20th, 2014]
- Free App Lets the Next Snowden Send Big Files Securely and Anonymously [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2014]
- How to get free 7 day trials for XBL works as of May 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: May 23rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 23rd, 2014]
- Free Access to Deep Web (HIdden Wikki)(Tor Browser)-free 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: May 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 27th, 2014]
- Federal Cybersecurity Director Found Guilty on Child Porn Charges [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2014] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2014]
- Cybersecurity official uses Tor but still gets caught with child porn [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2014] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2014]
- Softonic - Tor Browser - Download [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2014] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2014]
- What is the Tor Browser? - Tor Project: Anonymity Online [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2014] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2014]
- Tor Browser - Problem Connecting? [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2014] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2014]
- Review: Tor Browser Bundle lets you browse in anonymity ... [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2014] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2014]
- Guide to using the Tor Browser Bundle for secure communication - Video [Last Updated On: August 31st, 2014] [Originally Added On: August 31st, 2014]
- Hack-Bypass Hotspot (Mikrotik) With Tor Browser - Video [Last Updated On: September 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 3rd, 2014]
- Using tor-browser on ubuntu 14.04 LTS - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2014]
- Download Tor Browser Bundle 3 6 5 For Win, Mac, Linux - Video [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2014]
- Browse Anonymously, Browse Safely - The App Center [Last Updated On: September 11th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 11th, 2014]
- Tor browser NOT SAFE without this quick step - Video [Last Updated On: September 12th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 12th, 2014]
- Tor Browser for iOS - Free download and software reviews ... [Last Updated On: September 14th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 14th, 2014]
- Comcast Denies It Will Cut Off Customers Who Use Tor, The Web Browser For Criminals (CMCSA) [Last Updated On: September 15th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 15th, 2014]
- Comcast calls rumor that it disconnects Tor users wildly inaccurate [Last Updated On: September 15th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 15th, 2014]
- Why a thinly sourced, unverified report about Comcast has the Web in an uproar [Last Updated On: September 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 16th, 2014]
- Drier: Is Comcast really blocking anonymous Internet browser Tor? [Last Updated On: September 19th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 19th, 2014]
- Guns, drugs and freedom: the great dark net debate [Last Updated On: September 19th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 19th, 2014]
- Download and Install Tor Browser Bundle - Video [Last Updated On: September 24th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 24th, 2014]
- install tor browser for kali linux 1.0.9 - Video [Last Updated On: September 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 27th, 2014]
- TOR Browser: Safe to use 2014? - Yahoo Answers [Last Updated On: September 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 28th, 2014]
- Alex Jones Interviews Creator of TOR Browser- Infowars September 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: September 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 28th, 2014]
- Tor Executive Director Hints At Firefox Integration [Last Updated On: September 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 30th, 2014]
- Dreaming of a Tor Button for Firefox [Last Updated On: September 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 30th, 2014]
- Install tor browser on kali linux - Video [Last Updated On: September 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 30th, 2014]
- How to install TOR browser bundle on sparkylinux 32bit - Video [Last Updated On: September 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 30th, 2014]
- Firefox could be adding built-in Tor support for improved private browsing [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2014]
- Tor Browser Bundle: Download & Start - Tutorial deutsch - Video [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2014]
- With This Tiny Box, You Can Anonymize Everything You Do Online [Last Updated On: October 13th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 13th, 2014]
- Tor Browser Cheat TankPit - Video [Last Updated On: October 13th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 13th, 2014]
- Anonabox Promises Total Online Anonymity That's Easy, Open Source, and Cheap [Last Updated On: October 14th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 14th, 2014]
- This tiny box anonymises all your online actions [Last Updated On: October 14th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 14th, 2014]
- Anonabox promises a portable, streamlined way to use Tor to hide your online tracks [Last Updated On: October 14th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 14th, 2014]
- Investors flock to tiny device that promises online anonymity [Last Updated On: October 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 16th, 2014]
- How to run all your Internet's programs thru Tor Browser - Video [Last Updated On: October 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 16th, 2014]
- Tails 1.2 : Released with Tor Browser 4.0 - Video [Last Updated On: October 20th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 20th, 2014]
- Tor Browser 4.0 is released | The Tor Blog [Last Updated On: October 25th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 25th, 2014]
- Access Blocked site using Tor Browser and chrome [2014] - Video [Last Updated On: October 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 27th, 2014]
- Be Anonymous Online : TOR Browser - Video [Last Updated On: October 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 27th, 2014]
- Menggunakan TOR Browser - Video [Last Updated On: October 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 29th, 2014]
- Facebook Just Created a Custom Tor Link and That's Awesome [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2014]
- How to Use Deep Web Using Tor Browser - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2014]
- Setup Tor Browser on Mac OS 10 - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2014]
- Facebook opens up to Tor users with new secure .onion address [Last Updated On: November 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 1st, 2014]
- How to use the Tor browser and the Open PGP applet - Video [Last Updated On: November 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 1st, 2014]
- Facebookcorewwwi.onion ( Preview ) - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2014]
- How to use Tor for Facebook (Windows, Mac & Linux) [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2014]
- Tor Browser Bundle - Secure your Web surfing - [Free Download] - Video [Last Updated On: November 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 5th, 2014]
- The Law Scores a Victory Against Dark Net Denizens [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2014]
- Tor Browser New 4 - Video [Last Updated On: November 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 8th, 2014]
- How to (Install- Enable) Flash Player on Tor Browser - Video [Last Updated On: November 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 9th, 2014]
- Tor Browser New 2 - Video [Last Updated On: November 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 9th, 2014]
- Tor Browser New 1 - Video [Last Updated On: November 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 9th, 2014]
- Developer edition and privacy are Firefoxs 10th birthday present for the world [Last Updated On: November 11th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 11th, 2014]
- Easily Install Tor Browser 4.0.1 via PPA in Linux Mint 17 - Video [Last Updated On: November 11th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 11th, 2014]
- Better Tor-gether? Mozillla bids to bring anonymous browsing to the masses [Last Updated On: November 12th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 12th, 2014]
- How to connect Tor Browser to Country-specific IP Address - Video [Last Updated On: November 12th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 12th, 2014]
- A Computer Science Professor Found A Way To Identify Most 'Anonymous' Tor Users [Last Updated On: November 19th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 19th, 2014]
- Tor Browser-in Yuklenmesi ve qurulmasi. - Video [Last Updated On: November 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 26th, 2014]
- | | install tor browser on ubuntu 14 04 - Video [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2014]
- Tor Browser 4.5-alpha-1 is released | The Tor Blog [Last Updated On: November 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: November 29th, 2014]
- Como instalar o Tor Browser- Navegador da Deep Web/Annimo - Video [Last Updated On: December 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: December 5th, 2014]
- [ExpertProf - THT]Tor Browser Kurulumu Ve Onion'a Girilmesi - Video [Last Updated On: December 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: December 5th, 2014]