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| Tor Browser |
Tor
Browser is a web browser that anonymizes your web traffic using the Tor
network, making it easy to protect your identity online. If you are
investigating a competitor, researching an adversary lawsuit in a legal
dispute, or just think it is scary for your ISP or government to decide which
website you visit, then Tor Browser Might be the right solution.
Some
caveats: browsing the web on Tor is slower than Clonet, and some major web
services block Tor users. The Tor browser is also illegal in a totalitarian
regime that seeks to prevent citizens from reading, publishing and
communicating anonymously. Journalists and dissidents around the world have
today embraced Tor as the cornerstone of online democracy, and researchers are
working hard to improve Tor's benami assets.
For
most people, using Tor Browser is as simple as downloading and running it, the
same way you would download Chrome or Firefox. The Tor browser is available for
Linux, Mac and Windows, and has since been ported to mobile. If you're on
Android, search for OrBot or OrFox on the Google Play Store or F-Droid. iOS
users can grab OnionBrowser from the Apple App Store. If you've never used Tow,
the first thing you'll notice is that it's slower - or at least, slower than
regular Internet browsing. Nevertheless, Tor has grown very quickly over the
years, and with a good internet connection, you can also watch YouTube videos
on Tor.
Using
the Tor browser comes with a big annoyance: many major web services prevent
access to Tor, often without useful error messages. If you travel normally, you
suddenly return a 404 while going to Tor, the service likely stops torque
traffic and becomes unnecessarily opaque about it. Sites that do not block Tor
may prompt you to click through a ton of captcha. It is not the end of the
world, but it is annoying.
Tor
Browser routes all your web traffic through the Tor network, announcing it. As
pictured below the picture, Tor has a three-layer proxy, such as layers of
onions (hence the Tor's onion logo). The tow browser connects at random from
one of the publicly listed entry nodes, bounces that traffic through a randomly
selected middle relay, and finally ejects your traffic through the third and
last exit node. .
As
a result, don't be surprised if Google or some other service greets you in a
foreign language. These services look at your IP address and dictate your
country and language, but when using Tor, you will often appear in half the
location worldwide.
If
you live in a regime that blocks Tor or needs to access a Web service that
blocks Tor, you can also configure Tor Browser to use bridges. Unlike Tor's
entry and exit nodes, bridge IP addresses are not publicly listed, making it
difficult for web services or governments to blacklist those IP addresses. The
Tor network routes all types of TCP traffic but is optimized for web browsing.
Tor does not support UDP, so do not try to give free software ISO an edge, as
it will not work.
For
most people reading this article, Tor Browser is completely legal to use. However,
in some countries, Tor is illegal or blocked by national authorities. China has
declared anonymity service illegal and prevents tow traffic from crossing the
Great Firewall. Countries like Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran are working hard
to prevent citizens from using Tor. It is easy to see why a repressive regime
hates the Tor. The service makes it easy for journalists to report on
corruption and helps dissidents organize against political repression.
