![]() The Tor Project offers a program called Tor Messenger, which allows you to combine Tor with the chat protocols Jabber, IRC, Google Talk, and others. ![]() It’s easy to route not just your web browsing over Tor, but instant messaging, too. Tor’s update has made those onion services less easily discovered and strengthened their encryption. Beyond merely covering your tracks as you visit websites, the new feature has opened Tor up to a new range of applications, enabling a new generation of whistleblowing platforms and new forms of untraceable messaging. ![]() All of that makes it very difficult for anyone to trace your connection from origin to destination-not the volunteer computers relaying your information, not your internet service provider, and not the websites or online services you visit.Įarlier this month, Tor announced an update to its so-called onion services, which use Tor’s anonymizing features to hide not just individual people on the web, but servers too, allowing for so-called dark web or darknet sites and other services that can’t be physically traced to any locatable computer. If you are going to the seedier parts of the Internet, Tor cannot protect you from malicious software that could be used to reveal your location.Tor protects your identity online-namely your IP address-by encrypting your traffic in at least three layers and bouncing it through a chain of three volunteer computers chosen among thousands around the world, each of which strips off just one layer of encryption before bouncing your data to the next computer. The Tor Project has more tips on browsing anonymously.Īlso, remember that browsing in anonymity does not make you immune to viruses and other malware. The browser has the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s HTTPS Everywhere add-on installed by default, which should cover your SSL/TSL needs most of the time. If you don’t, then anything you do online can be observed by the person running your exit node. There are also some rules of the road you should observe, such as connecting to every site possible via SSL/TSL encryption (HTTPS). Just make sure you do all your anonymous browsing from the Tor Browser itself as other programs on your system are not connected to Tor.īut browsing anonymously on Tor isn’t quite as easy as booting up a program. If your browser shows you coming from a location that is not your own, you are good to go. ![]() To make sure you’re connected to Tor go to, which will automatically detect your location based on your Internet Protocol address. Some people like to check the installation file to make sure they’ve downloaded the proper version of the browser and not something that’s been tampered with. Once you’ve downloaded the installer, you have two options: You can just install the software or you can check the installation file’s GPG signature first. This is a modified version of Firefox along with a bunch of other software that connects you to the Tor network. The easiest way to use Tor is to download the Tor Browser. But if the NSA or other three-letter agency decided to actively target your browsing habits that’s a whole different ballgame. If, like the librarians in Massachusetts, you don’t have an exotic reason for using Tor, it’s still a good tool to keep your browsing private from your ISP, advertisers, or passive government data collection. Activists masking their location from oppressive regimes and journalists communicating with anonymous sources are two simple examples. While Tor is gaining a reputation as a tool for buying illicit goods online, the software has numerous legitimate uses.
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