Page 36«..1020..35363738..50..»

Category Archives: Tor Browser

The Tor Browser: Tor Browser – au.pcmag.com

Posted: January 27, 2016 at 7:43 pm

The Tor Browser makes the tricky work of surfing the Web anonymously as easy as using any other browser, but with a significant performance hit.

Jan. 26, 2016

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? Ifyou'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 trackedwith it. Standard browsers' private browsing modes discard your cached pages and browsing history afteryour 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.

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 Webconnection. 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 societyand 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 theTor project's page.

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: Ourcircuit 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 bedifficult 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 additionalbrowser 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.

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.

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. Onourtest 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.

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.

Read the original post:
The Tor Browser: Tor Browser - au.pcmag.com

Posted in Tor Browser | Comments Off on The Tor Browser: Tor Browser – au.pcmag.com

The Tor Browser: Tor Browser – uk.pcmag.com

Posted: at 7:43 pm

The Tor Browser makes the tricky work of surfing the Web anonymously as easy as using any other browser, but with a significant performance hit.

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? Ifyou'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 trackedwith it. Standard browsers' private browsing modes discard your cached pages and browsing history afteryour 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.

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 Webconnection. 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 societyand 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 theTor project's page.

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: Ourcircuit 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 bedifficult 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 additionalbrowser 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.

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.

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. Onourtest 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.

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.

Read more:
The Tor Browser: Tor Browser - uk.pcmag.com

Posted in Tor Browser | Comments Off on The Tor Browser: Tor Browser – uk.pcmag.com

Tor Browser Latest (3.6.1) – Home

Posted: at 7:43 pm

Tor Browser

Inception

Tor was originally designed, implemented, and deployed as a third-generation onion routing project of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. It was originally developed with the U.S. Navy in mind, for the primary purpose of protecting government communications. Today, it is used every day for a wide variety of purposes by normal people, the military, journalists, law enforcement officers, activists, and many others. Overview

Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.

Individuals use Tor to keep websites from tracking them and their family members, or to connect to news sites, instant messaging services, or the like when these are blocked by their local Internet providers. Tor's hidden services let users publish web sites and other services without needing to reveal the location of the site. Individuals also use Tor for socially sensitive communication: chat rooms and web forums for rape and abuse survivors, or people with illnesses.

Journalists use Tor to communicate more safely with whistleblowers and dissidents. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) use Tor to allow their workers to connect to their home website while they're in a foreign country, without notifying everybody nearby that they're working with that organization.

Groups such as Indymedia recommend Tor for safeguarding their members' online privacy and security. Activist groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) recommend Tor as a mechanism for maintaining civil liberties online. Corporations use Tor as a safe way to conduct competitive analysis, and to protect sensitive procurement patterns from eavesdroppers. They also use it to replace traditional VPNs, which reveal the exact amount and timing of communication. Which locations have employees working late? Which locations have employees consulting job-hunting websites? Which research divisions are communicating with the company's patent lawyers?

A branch of the U.S. Navy uses Tor for open source intelligence gathering, and one of its teams used Tor while deployed in the Middle East recently. Law enforcement uses Tor for visiting or surveilling web sites without leaving government IP addresses in their web logs, and for security during sting operations.

The variety of people who use Tor is actually part of what makes it so secure. Tor hides you among the other users on the network, so the more populous and diverse the user base for Tor is, the more your anonymity will be protected. Why we need Tor

Using Tor protects you against a common form of Internet surveillance known as "traffic analysis." Traffic analysis can be used to infer who is talking to whom over a public network. Knowing the source and destination of your Internet traffic allows others to track your behavior and interests. This can impact your checkbook if, for example, an e-commerce site uses price discrimination based on your country or institution of origin. It can even threaten your job and physical safety by revealing who and where you are. For example, if you're travelling abroad and you connect to your employer's computers to check or send mail, you can inadvertently reveal your national origin and professional affiliation to anyone observing the network, even if the connection is encrypted.

How does traffic analysis work? Internet data packets have two parts: a data payload and a header used for routing. The data payload is whatever is being sent, whether that's an email message, a web page, or an audio file. Even if you encrypt the data payload of your communications, traffic analysis still reveals a great deal about what you're doing and, possibly, what you're saying. That's because it focuses on the header, which discloses source, destination, size, timing, and so on.

A basic problem for the privacy minded is that the recipient of your communications can see that you sent it by looking at headers. So can authorized intermediaries like Internet service providers, and sometimes unauthorized intermediaries as well. A very simple form of traffic analysis might involve sitting somewhere between sender and recipient on the network, looking at headers.

But there are also more powerful kinds of traffic analysis. Some attackers spy on multiple parts of the Internet and use sophisticated statistical techniques to track the communications patterns of many different organizations and individuals. Encryption does not help against these attackers, since it only hides the content of Internet traffic, not the headers. The solution: a distributed, anonymous network How Tor works

Tor helps to reduce the risks of both simple and sophisticated traffic analysis by distributing your transactions over several places on the Internet, so no single point can link you to your destination. The idea is similar to using a twisty, hard-to-follow route in order to throw off somebody who is tailing you and then periodically erasing your footprints. Instead of taking a direct route from source to destination, data packets on the Tor network take a random pathway through several relays that cover your tracks so no observer at any single point can tell where the data came from or where it's going.

To create a private network pathway with Tor, the user's software or client incrementally builds a circuit of encrypted connections through relays on the network. The circuit is extended one hop at a time, and each relay along the way knows only which relay gave it data and which relay it is giving data to. No individual relay ever knows the complete path that a data packet has taken. The client negotiates a separate set of encryption keys for each hop along the circuit to ensure that each hop can't trace these connections as they pass through.

Tor circuit step two

Once a circuit has been established, many kinds of data can be exchanged and several different sorts of software applications can be deployed over the Tor network. Because each relay sees no more than one hop in the circuit, neither an eavesdropper nor a compromised relay can use traffic analysis to link the connection's source and destination. Tor only works for TCP streams and can be used by any application with SOCKS support.

For efficiency, the Tor software uses the same circuit for connections that happen within the same ten minutes or so. Later requests are given a new circuit, to keep people from linking your earlier actions to the new ones.

Tor circuit step three Hidden services

Tor also makes it possible for users to hide their locations while offering various kinds of services, such as web publishing or an instant messaging server. Using Tor "rendezvous points," other Tor users can connect to these hidden services, each without knowing the other's network identity. This hidden service functionality could allow Tor users to set up a website where people publish material without worrying about censorship. Nobody would be able to determine who was offering the site, and nobody who offered the site would know who was posting to it. Learn more about configuring hidden services and how the hidden service protocol works. Staying anonymous

Tor can't solve all anonymity problems. It focuses only on protecting the transport of data. You need to use protocol-specific support software if you don't want the sites you visit to see your identifying information. For example, you can use the Tor Browser Bundle while browsing the web to withhold some information about your computer's configuration.

Also, to protect your anonymity, be smart. Don't provide your name or other revealing information in web forms. Be aware that, like all anonymizing networks that are fast enough for web browsing, Tor does not provide protection against end-to-end timing attacks: If your attacker can watch the traffic coming out of your computer, and also the traffic arriving at your chosen destination, he can use statistical analysis to discover that they are part of the same circuit. The future of Tor

Providing a usable anonymizing network on the Internet today is an ongoing challenge. We want software that meets users' needs. We also want to keep the network up and running in a way that handles as many users as possible. Security and usability don't have to be at odds: As Tor's usability increases, it will attract more users, which will increase the possible sources and destinations of each communication, thus increasing security for everyone. We're making progress, but we need your help. Please consider running a relay or volunteering as a developer.

Ongoing trends in law, policy, and technology threaten anonymity as never before, undermining our ability to speak and read freely online. These trends also undermine national security and critical infrastructure by making communication among individuals, organizations, corporations, and governments more vulnerable to analysis. Each new user and relay provides additional diversity, enhancing Tor's ability to put control over your security and privacy back into your hands. Tor: Overview Topics

Inception Overview Why we need Tor The Solution Hidden services Staying anonymous The future of Tor

Inception

Tor was originally designed, implemented, and deployed as a third-generation onion routing project of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. It was originally developed with the U.S. Navy in mind, for the primary purpose of protecting government communications. Today, it is used every day for a wide variety of purposes by normal people, the military, journalists, law enforcement officers, activists, and many others. Overview

Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.

Individuals use Tor to keep websites from tracking them and their family members, or to connect to news sites, instant messaging services, or the like when these are blocked by their local Internet providers. Tor's hidden services let users publish web sites and other services without needing to reveal the location of the site. Individuals also use Tor for socially sensitive communication: chat rooms and web forums for rape and abuse survivors, or people with illnesses.

Journalists use Tor to communicate more safely with whistleblowers and dissidents. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) use Tor to allow their workers to connect to their home website while they're in a foreign country, without notifying everybody nearby that they're working with that organization.

Groups such as Indymedia recommend Tor for safeguarding their members' online privacy and security. Activist groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) recommend Tor as a mechanism for maintaining civil liberties online. Corporations use Tor as a safe way to conduct competitive analysis, and to protect sensitive procurement patterns from eavesdroppers. They also use it to replace traditional VPNs, which reveal the exact amount and timing of communication. Which locations have employees working late? Which locations have employees consulting job-hunting websites? Which research divisions are communicating with the company's patent lawyers?

A branch of the U.S. Navy uses Tor for open source intelligence gathering, and one of its teams used Tor while deployed in the Middle East recently. Law enforcement uses Tor for visiting or surveilling web sites without leaving government IP addresses in their web logs, and for security during sting operations.

The variety of people who use Tor is actually part of what makes it so secure. Tor hides you among the other users on the network, so the more populous and diverse the user base for Tor is, the more your anonymity will be protected. Why we need Tor

Using Tor protects you against a common form of Internet surveillance known as "traffic analysis." Traffic analysis can be used to infer who is talking to whom over a public network. Knowing the source and destination of your Internet traffic allows others to track your behavior and interests. This can impact your checkbook if, for example, an e-commerce site uses price discrimination based on your country or institution of origin. It can even threaten your job and physical safety by revealing who and where you are. For example, if you're travelling abroad and you connect to your employer's computers to check or send mail, you can inadvertently reveal your national origin and professional affiliation to anyone observing the network, even if the connection is encrypted.

How does traffic analysis work? Internet data packets have two parts: a data payload and a header used for routing. The data payload is whatever is being sent, whether that's an email message, a web page, or an audio file. Even if you encrypt the data payload of your communications, traffic analysis still reveals a great deal about what you're doing and, possibly, what you're saying. That's because it focuses on the header, which discloses source, destination, size, timing, and so on.

A basic problem for the privacy minded is that the recipient of your communications can see that you sent it by looking at headers. So can authorized intermediaries like Internet service providers, and sometimes unauthorized intermediaries as well. A very simple form of traffic analysis might involve sitting somewhere between sender and recipient on the network, looking at headers.

But there are also more powerful kinds of traffic analysis. Some attackers spy on multiple parts of the Internet and use sophisticated statistical techniques to track the communications patterns of many different organizations and individuals. Encryption does not help against these attackers, since it only hides the content of Internet traffic, not the headers. The solution: a distributed, anonymous network How Tor works

Tor helps to reduce the risks of both simple and sophisticated traffic analysis by distributing your transactions over several places on the Internet, so no single point can link you to your destination. The idea is similar to using a twisty, hard-to-follow route in order to throw off somebody who is tailing you and then periodically erasing your footprints. Instead of taking a direct route from source to destination, data packets on the Tor network take a random pathway through several relays that cover your tracks so no observer at any single point can tell where the data came from or where it's going.

To create a private network pathway with Tor, the user's software or client incrementally builds a circuit of encrypted connections through relays on the network. The circuit is extended one hop at a time, and each relay along the way knows only which relay gave it data and which relay it is giving data to. No individual relay ever knows the complete path that a data packet has taken. The client negotiates a separate set of encryption keys for each hop along the circuit to ensure that each hop can't trace these connections as they pass through.

Tor circuit step two

Once a circuit has been established, many kinds of data can be exchanged and several different sorts of software applications can be deployed over the Tor network. Because each relay sees no more than one hop in the circuit, neither an eavesdropper nor a compromised relay can use traffic analysis to link the connection's source and destination. Tor only works for TCP streams and can be used by any application with SOCKS support.

For efficiency, the Tor software uses the same circuit for connections that happen within the same ten minutes or so. Later requests are given a new circuit, to keep people from linking your earlier actions to the new ones.

Tor circuit step three Hidden services

Tor also makes it possible for users to hide their locations while offering various kinds of services, such as web publishing or an instant messaging server. Using Tor "rendezvous points," other Tor users can connect to these hidden services, each without knowing the other's network identity. This hidden service functionality could allow Tor users to set up a website where people publish material without worrying about censorship. Nobody would be able to determine who was offering the site, and nobody who offered the site would know who was posting to it. Learn more about configuring hidden services and how the hidden service protocol works. Staying anonymous

Tor can't solve all anonymity problems. It focuses only on protecting the transport of data. You need to use protocol-specific support software if you don't want the sites you visit to see your identifying information. For example, you can use the Tor Browser Bundle while browsing the web to withhold some information about your computer's configuration.

Also, to protect your anonymity, be smart. Don't provide your name or other revealing information in web forms. Be aware that, like all anonymizing networks that are fast enough for web browsing, Tor does not provide protection against end-to-end timing attacks: If your attacker can watch the traffic coming out of your computer, and also the traffic arriving at your chosen destination, he can use statistical analysis to discover that they are part of the same circuit. The future of Tor

Providing a usable anonymizing network on the Internet today is an ongoing challenge. We want software that meets users' needs. We also want to keep the network up and running in a way that handles as many users as possible. Security and usability don't have to be at odds: As Tor's usability increases, it will attract more users, which will increase the possible sources and destinations of each communication, thus increasing security for everyone. We're making progress, but we need your help. Please consider running a relay or volunteering as a developer.

Ongoing trends in law, policy, and technology threaten anonymity as never before, undermining our ability to speak and read freely online. These trends also undermine national security and critical infrastructure by making communication among individuals, organizations, corporations, and governments more vulnerable to analysis. Each new user and relay provides additional diversity, enhancing Tor's ability to put control over your security and privacy back into your hands.

More:
Tor Browser Latest (3.6.1) - Home

Posted in Tor Browser | Comments Off on Tor Browser Latest (3.6.1) – Home

Download Tor Browser – Tor Project: Anonymity Online

Posted: November 3, 2015 at 12:44 pm

You need to change some of your habits, as some things won't work exactly as you are used to.

Tor does not protect all of your computer's Internet traffic when you run it. Tor only protects your applications that are properly configured to send their Internet traffic through Tor. To avoid problems with Tor configuration, we strongly recommend you use the Tor Browser. It is pre-configured to protect your privacy and anonymity on the web as long as you're browsing with the Tor Browser itself. Almost any other web browser configuration is likely to be unsafe to use with Tor.

Torrent file-sharing applications have been observed to ignore proxy settings and make direct connections even when they are told to use Tor. Even if your torrent application connects only through Tor, you will often send out your real IP address in the tracker GET request, because that's how torrents work. Not only do you deanonymize your torrent traffic and your other simultaneous Tor web traffic this way, you also slow down the entire Tor network for everyone else.

The Tor Browser will block browser plugins such as Flash, RealPlayer, Quicktime, and others: they can be manipulated into revealing your IP address. Similarly, we do not recommend installing additional addons or plugins into the Tor Browser, as these may bypass Tor or otherwise harm your anonymity and privacy.

Tor will encrypt your traffic to and within the Tor network, but the encryption of your traffic to the final destination website depends upon on that website. To help ensure private encryption to websites, the Tor Browser includes HTTPS Everywhere to force the use of HTTPS encryption with major websites that support it. However, you should still watch the browser URL bar to ensure that websites you provide sensitive information to display a blue or green URL bar button, include https:// in the URL, and display the proper expected name for the website. Also see EFF's interactive page explaining how Tor and HTTPS relate.

The Tor Browser will warn you before automatically opening documents that are handled by external applications. DO NOT IGNORE THIS WARNING. You should be very careful when downloading documents via Tor (especially DOC and PDF files) as these documents can contain Internet resources that will be downloaded outside of Tor by the application that opens them. This will reveal your non-Tor IP address. If you must work with DOC and/or PDF files, we strongly recommend either using a disconnected computer, downloading the free VirtualBox and using it with a virtual machine image with networking disabled, or using Tails. Under no circumstances is it safe to use BitTorrent and Tor together, however.

Tor tries to prevent attackers from learning what destination websites you connect to. However, by default, it does not prevent somebody watching your Internet traffic from learning that you're using Tor. If this matters to you, you can reduce this risk by configuring Tor to use a Tor bridge relay rather than connecting directly to the public Tor network. Ultimately the best protection is a social approach: the more Tor users there are near you and the more diverse their interests, the less dangerous it will be that you are one of them. Convince other people to use Tor, too!

Be smart and learn more. Understand what Tor does and does not offer. This list of pitfalls isn't complete, and we need your help identifying and documenting all the issues.

Read more here:
Download Tor Browser - Tor Project: Anonymity Online

Posted in Tor Browser | Comments Off on Download Tor Browser – Tor Project: Anonymity Online

Tor Browser | Downloadser.com

Posted: October 26, 2015 at 9:44 am

Tor Browser

Download Now

Free & Safe Download

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]

Rating: 4.3/5 (39 votes cast)

By downloading Tor Browser, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The download of the Tor Browser is managed by our download manager. During the download and installation of the software the download manager will offer to you additional software or products including advertisements and search related features which you may be interested in. Any additional software you install may be easily Uninstall. Click here for more information on these optional offers.This site is not directly affiliated with Tor Browser team. The download manager distributes the original, unmodified third-party software obtained directly from the source.

Tor is a completely free browserand open network that helps protect your personal freedom, security, and privacy. Tors shields against major threats, such as traffic analysis. Completely volunteer run, Tor works by bouncing your communications around different networks across the world. By doing this, Tor fights against internet surveillance and prevents other from viewing you browser history and your location. Traffic analysis not only allows others to track your behavior and interests, but it can negatively affect many aspects of your personal life your checkbook, employment, and physical safety. Traffic Analysis can reveal who you are and where you area, so let Tor protect you.

Download Now

Free & Safe Download

Read more:
Tor Browser | Downloadser.com

Posted in Tor Browser | Comments Off on Tor Browser | Downloadser.com

How to Browse Anonymously With Tor

Posted: October 12, 2015 at 9:47 pm

Everything you do online can be traced back to your IP address. Even if youre accessing encrypted websites, networks can see the websites youre accessing and the websites themselves know your IP address. Use the Tor network to browse with anonymity.

Tor is an encrypted network that can route your traffic through relays, making the traffic appear to come from exit nodes. Unlike with proxies, the exit node itself doesnt know your IP address or where you are.

When you use a Tor client, your Internet traffic is routed through Tors network. The traffic travels through several randomly selected relays (run by volunteers), before exiting the Tor network and arriving at your destination. This prevents your Internet service provider and people monitoring your local network from viewing the websites you access. It also prevents the websites themselves from knowing your physical location or IP address theyll see the IP address and location of the exit node instead. Even the relays dont know who requested the traffic theyre passing along. All traffic within the Tor network is encrypted.

Image Credit: The Tor Project, Inc.

For example, lets say you access Google.com through Tor. Your Internet service provider and local network operator cant see that youre accessing Google.com they just see encrypted Tor traffic. The Tor relays pass your traffic along until it eventually reaches an exit node. The exit node talks to Google for you from Googles perspective, the exit node is accessing their website. (Of course, traffic can be monitored at the exit node if youre accessing an unencrypted website.) The exit node passes the traffic back along the relays, and the relays dont know where it ends up.

Tor offers anonymity and a path through Internet censorship and monitoring people living under repressive regimes with censored Internet connections can use Tor to access the wider Internet without fear of reprisal. Whistleblowers can use Tor to leak information without their traffic being monitored and logged.

Its not a great idea to use Tor for normal browsing, though. While the architecture does a good job of offering anonymity, browsing through Tor is significantly slower than browsing normally.

If you want more detailed information about how Tor works, check out the Tor Projects website.

The Tor Project recommends the Tor Browser Bundle as the safest, easiest way to use Tor. The Tor Browser Bundle is a customized, portable version of Firefox that comes preconfigured with the ideal settings and extensions for TOr. You can use Tor with other browsers and browser configurations, but this is likely to be unsafe. For example, Flash and other browser plug-ins can reveal your IP address the Tor Browser Bundle disables plug-ins for you and provides a safe environment, so you dont have to worry about your browser settings. It also includes the EFFs HTTPS Everywhere extension, which enables HTTPS on websites with HTTPS support. HTTPS provides encryption between the exit node and destination website.

Tor recommends that you not download document files, such as DOC and PDF files, and open them in external applications. The external application can connect to the Internet to download additional resources, exposing your IP address.

After downloading the Tor Browser Bundle, double-click the downloaded EXE file and extract it to your hard drive. The Tor Browser Bundle requires no installation, so you can extract it to a USB stick and run it from there.

Launch the Start Tor Browser.exe file in the Tor Browser folder.

The EXE file will launch Vidalia, which connects to the Tor network. After connecting, Vidalia will automatically open Tors customized Firefox browser.

Vidalia automatically launches the Tor Browser once it connects. When you close the browser, Vidalia automatically disconnects from Tor and closes.

Vidalia creates a local proxy on your system. The Tor Browser Bundle is configured to route all your traffic through it by default, as we can see here in the Tor Browsers connection settings window. You can configure other programs to access Tor through the proxy, but they may reveal your IP address in other ways.

Use the Tor Browser to browse the web just as you would with a normal browser. Its pre-configured with Startpage and DuckDuckGo, search engines that respect your privacy.

Remember not to provide any personal information say, by logging into an account associated with you while using the Tor browser, or youll lose the anonymity.

Chris Hoffman is a technology writer and all-around computer geek. He's as at home using the Linux terminal as he is digging into the Windows registry. Connect with him on Google+.

See the original post here:
How to Browse Anonymously With Tor

Posted in Tor Browser | Comments Off on How to Browse Anonymously With Tor

Tor Browser ndir – Gvenilir ve Anonim Web Taraycs – Tamindir

Posted: at 9:47 pm

Tor Browser, evrimii gvenliine ve gizliliine nem veren bilgisayar kullanclarnn internet zerinde anonim olarak gvenli bir ekilde gezebilmesi ve internet alemindeki tm engelleri ortadan kaldrarak gezinebilmesi iin gelitirilmi olan gvenilir bir internet taraycsdr.

Farkl kaynaklar tarafndan gzetlenebilecek veya izlenebilecek olan a trafiinizi ve veri alveri istatistiklerinin korunmas iin gl bir kalkan grevi gren yazlm, ierisinde yer alan eitli zellikler ve aralar yardmyla bulunduunuz yeri gizlemenin dnda evrimii bilgilerinizi ve internet gemii verilerinizi de gizler.

Sanal sunuculardan kurulu olan a temellerine dayanan Tor Browser, bu sayede internet zerinde anonim bir ekilde gezinmenize ve istediiniz tm sitelere yasaklara veya engellemelere taklmadan giri yapmanza olanak salar. Tm dnya zerinde yer alan eitli sunucularla farkl kurallar ve algoritmalar dahilinde veri alveriinde bulunan tarayc, tm trafii farkl kaynaklar zerinden ald iin takip edilmesi neredeyse imkanszdr.

Firefox'un zelletirilmi bir versiyonunu kullanmakta olan Tor, Vidalia adnda sade ve kolay kullanlabilir bir kullanc arayzne sahiptir. Bu sayede her seviyeden kullanc tarafndan rahatlkla kullanlabilecek olan yazlm, zellikle daha nce Firefox'u kullanm olan kullanclara ok daha tandk gelecektir.

Kolay ve sorunsuz bir kurulum ileminin ardndan taraycnz kullanmaya balayabilmek iin ncelikli olarak gerekli yerel a ayarlarn yapmal veya otomatik ayarlar kullanarak Tor ana balanmalsnz. Bu sylediim ilemleri kurulum sonras karnza gelecek olan arayz zerinde bir iki tklamayla gerekletirebilir ve Tor ana balanmanzn ardndan otomatik olarak alacak olan Tor Browser' hemen kullanmaya balayabilirsiniz.

Bahsetmi olduumuz tm bu zellikleri bir araya getirdiimiz zaman, internette zgrce srf yapabilmek ve engelli sitelere girebilmek iin kullanabileceiniz en etkili ve gvenilir web tarayclarndan biri olarak dikkat eken Tor Browser, tm bilgisayar kullanclarnn arivinde yer almas gereken programlardan bir tanesi.

Read the original post:
Tor Browser ndir - Gvenilir ve Anonim Web Taraycs - Tamindir

Posted in Tor Browser | Comments Off on Tor Browser ndir – Gvenilir ve Anonim Web Taraycs – Tamindir

Tor Browser 5.0.3 Download – TechSpot

Posted: at 9:47 pm

Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.

Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.

Individuals use Tor to keep websites from tracking them and their family members, or to connect to news sites, instant messaging services, or the like when these are blocked by their local Internet providers. Tor's hidden services let users publish web sites and other services without needing to reveal the location of the site. Individuals also use Tor for socially sensitive communication: chat rooms and web forums for rape and abuse survivors, or people with illnesses.

Journalists use Tor to communicate more safely with whistleblowers and dissidents. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) use Tor to allow their workers to connect to their home website while they're in a foreign country, without notifying everybody nearby that they're working with that organization.

Groups such as Indymedia recommend Tor for safeguarding their members' online privacy and security. Activist groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) recommend Tor as a mechanism for maintaining civil liberties online. Corporations use Tor as a safe way to conduct competitive analysis, and to protect sensitive procurement patterns from eavesdroppers. They also use it to replace traditional VPNs, which reveal the exact amount and timing of communication. Which locations have employees working late? Which locations have employees consulting job-hunting websites? Which research divisions are communicating with the company's patent lawyers?

A branch of the U.S. Navy uses Tor for open source intelligence gathering, and one of its teams used Tor while deployed in the Middle East recently. Law enforcement uses Tor for visiting or surveilling web sites without leaving government IP addresses in their web logs, and for security during sting operations.

View post:
Tor Browser 5.0.3 Download - TechSpot

Posted in Tor Browser | Comments Off on Tor Browser 5.0.3 Download – TechSpot

Tor Browser for Mac – Free download and software reviews …

Posted: at 7:47 am

1 stars

"Downloads spam extensions onto my mac"

March 09, 2014 | By steelsmith80

| Version: Tor Browser Bundle 3.5.2.1

Pros

tor is a benefit if you can look past all of the hijacking you'll deal with

Cons

each and every chrome profile has 4 extensions added to it and they took over my default browser. I consider this pretty shady.

Summary

not worth the shady, spammy issues you'll encounter. I'd consider a non-cnet download from now on

Reply to this review

Was this review helpful? (0) (0)

4 stars

"What's downloading is v2.3.25-12, not 13"

October 03, 2013 | By zunipus

| Version: Tor Browser Bundle 2.3.25.13

Pros

What's downloading is v2.3.25-12, not 13

Cons

What's downloading is v2.3.25-12, not 13

Summary

Not a perfect solution to anonymity. You have been warned. But it has lots of other great uses!

Reply to this review

Was this review helpful? (0) (0)

4 stars

"Works the same as the old browser"

March 03, 2013 | By Zandiman1

| Version: Tor Browser Bundle 2.3.25.4

Pros

I can't tell. As far as I can see it works exactly the same

Cons

Every time you update Tor, it loses all the settings, tabs and bookmarks you had in the previous version.

This is particularly annoying if you've put a lot of time in creating macros and scripts for your download client.

Since the Tor browser is essentially Firefox, it shouldn't be that hard for Tor to have the browser act like the regular Firefox and keep all of it's settings after the update.

Reply to this review Read reply (1)

Was this review helpful? (0) (0)

Reply by Zandiman1 on July 10, 2013

EXACTLY RIGHT. It's a giant pain in the ass which keeps from updating it. Unless they give me a compelling reason, such as there are security holes with the current version, I will hold off on updating. You'd think they'd address this basic problem.

4 stars

"The link is for 32-bit Tor, but 64-bit also available!"

February 22, 2013 | By zunipus

| Version: Tor Browser Bundle 2.3.25.4

Pros

The wonders of the Onion project, Vidalia, and the Tor network all running on Firefox. It is much simpler than it used to be...

Cons

...But this is still fundamentally geekware IMHO if you want to use much more than its anonymity features. The learning curve is kind of rocky.

Summary

NOTE: The 32-bit version is downloaded via the link here. HOWEVER! There is also a 64-bit version! You can choose which of the two versions to download HERE:

https://www.torproject.org/download/download-easy.html.en

There are a lot of terrific things you can do with Tor and the Tor community. Read read read and play play play to learn and figure it all out.

You still have to be careful out there because ratty types like to hang out anonymously too. Be safe at all times. Enjoy your natural right to PRIVACY. Don't let any bozos take it away. Not ever!

Reply to this review

Was this review helpful? (0) (0)

1 stars

"***? Updated flash and still get an error message"

November 24, 2012 | By JOMADSinCEBU

| Version: Tor Browser Bundle 2.2.39-5

Pros

Interface was fine.

Cons

All I got was an error message telling me to update Flash Player.

Summary

I'm a MAC user for several reason one of which I like when applications JUST WORK! If I wanted to spend time geeking around with an app I'd be a winblowz user.

Tried to view a youtube video not allowed in the 3rd world I'm in now. Tried this browser. A message telling me to update my Flash Player appeared. OK. Updated flash. Still no luck. What's the point?

Reply to this review

Was this review helpful? (0) (0)

5 stars

"Tor works just great!"

July 10, 2012 | By heidisman

| Version: Tor 2.2.37-1

Pros

It took me a while to find a way to hide my IP address and I finally 'discovered' the Tor Browser. I have been using Tor for about two months and it does exactly as detailed on the Tor website.

Cons

So far I have none.

Reply to this review

Was this review helpful? (0) (0)

3 stars

"Hello,what about Tor for windows?!please consider"

June 02, 2011 | By KamRanZandi

| Version: Tor 0.2.1.30

Pros

Hello,what about Tor for windows?!please consider

Cons

Hello,what about Tor for windows?!please consider

Summary

Hello,what about Tor for windows?!please consider

Reply to this review Read reply (1)

Was this review helpful? (0) (4)

Reply by zunipus on September 4, 2011

Follow the link to the Tor site via the 'See full specifications' link above. At the Tor site you will find that it is written for Windows XP, Vista and 7ista as well as Mac OS X Intel and GNU/Linux i686. It's amazing what doing your homework can accomplish. 😉

5 stars

"The Ultimate Proxy for Personal Privacy"

January 18, 2011 | By zunipus

| Version: Tor 0.2.1.29

Pros

Tor is an Open Source project, independent of any political or oligarchic meddling. It works beautifully and restores faith in the human right of privacy. Once you understand what it's for, what it does and how to use it, it just works.

Cons

There is a steep learning curve if you want to understand Tor/Vidalia. It essentially is geekware, requiring patience with the accompanying difficult or missing documentation.

Summary

I learned about the Onion/Tor project via studying computer security and an interest in circumventing the deceitful "1984"-like political atmosphere developing in the USA over the last decade. I also wanted to circumvent ridiculous and abusive marketing blackouts around the world that prevent the sharing of information and media around the world. Tor/Vidalia is brilliant in solving these problems. Once you comprehend everything about it, I also found it remarkably easy to use.

Read more from the original source:
Tor Browser for Mac - Free download and software reviews ...

Posted in Tor Browser | Comments Off on Tor Browser for Mac – Free download and software reviews …

Download Tor Browser 5.0.3 / 5.5 Alpha 3 (Mac) – Softpedia

Posted: October 10, 2015 at 8:44 pm

Tor is a free software and open network specially designed to help you protect your privacy and defend against various forms of network surveillance.

The Tor project is based on the Onion Routing, once a secret project of the U.S. Naval Research Lab, and is developed and maintained by a open-source community.

Tor prevents the monitoring of your Internet connection by hiding your identity and preventing IP address-tracking back to your Mac.

In order to protect your connection, Tor uses various servers from around the world and reroutes your URL request through multiple servers to hide the path from your Mac to the destination URL.

Tor Browser is a simple an easy-to-use package that installs and help you manage the Tor project software on your Mac. The installation process is pretty straightforward, you just have to download the ZIP archive, extract and launch the application.

The Tor Browser app is based on Firefox and includes the Vidalia network connection utility. Thanks to Vidalia the connection to the Tor network is automatically achieved every time you launch Tor Browser.

The Vidalia Control Panel enables you to configure and manage your connection to the Thor network. You also have the option to Use a New Identity, view the Bandwidth Graph, open the Message Log and View the Network.

Tor Browser's interface is similar to Firefox 17.0.8 with the exception of the Tor-specific features such as NoScript, the Torbutton and SSL Observatory. From the Torbutton slide menu you can request a new identity, open the Cookie Protection manager and the Preferences window.

By accessing the Torbutton Preferences window you can configure the proxy settings and enable or disable various security settings such as "Disable browser plugins", "Restrict third party cookies" and more.

Another useful feature is the portability of the application. Tor Browser Bundle is self contained and, as a result, it can be run off a USB flash driver without the need of installing the app.

As it turn out from our tests, Tor Browser is smooth-running and easy-to-use. However, you will notice a speed drop when it comes to internet browsing caused by the constant traffic rerouting.

However, despite the decrease of the speed of your Internet connection, Tor Browser is worth installing if you want to hide your location and value your privacy.

Follow this link:
Download Tor Browser 5.0.3 / 5.5 Alpha 3 (Mac) - Softpedia

Posted in Tor Browser | Comments Off on Download Tor Browser 5.0.3 / 5.5 Alpha 3 (Mac) – Softpedia

Page 36«..1020..35363738..50..»