Thread: Tor Browser

What is the Tor Browser?
https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en

The Tor software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked.

The Tor Browser lets you use Tor on Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux without needing to install any software. It can run off a USB flash drive, comes with a pre-configured web browser to protect your anonymity, and is self-contained (portable).

This thread is a both a plug for the Tor Browser and a bit of explanation of the purpose of the browser, although the thread does not discuss additional important protection, in order to stay anonymous, like public and private keys and encryption and decryption of free downloadable software while surfing the darknet.

Darkweb
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_web

Before discussing the darknet, let's talk about the dark web:

The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on darknets, overlay networks which use the public Internet but which require specific software, configurations or authorization to access.[2][3] The dark web forms a small part of the deep web, the part of the Web not indexed by search engines, although sometimes the term "deep web" is confusingly used to refer specifically to the dark web.[4][5][6][7][8]

The darknets which constitute the dark web include small, friend-to-friend peer-to-peer networks, as well as large, popular networks like Freenet, I2P, and Tor, operated by public organizations and individuals. Users of the dark web refer to the regular web as the Clearnet due to its unencrypted nature.[9] The Tor dark web may be referred to as onionland,[10] a reference to the network's top level domain suffix .onion and the traffic anonymization technique of onion routing.

Darknet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darknet

A darknet is an overlay network that can only be accessed with specific software, configurations, or authorization, often using non-standard communications protocols and ports. Two typical darknet types are friend-to-friend[1] networks (usually used for file sharing with a peer-to-peer connection)[2] and privacy networks such as Tor.

Sub-cultures

Journalist J. D. Lasica in his 2005 book Darknet: Hollywood's War Against the Digital Generation describes the darknet's reach encompassing file sharing networks.[9] Consequently, in 2014, journalist Jamie Bartlett in his book The Dark Net would use it as a term to describe a range of underground and emergent sub cultures, including

• Social media racists
• Camgirls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webcam_model
• Self Harm communities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-harm
• Darknet drug markets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darknet_market
• Cryptoanarchists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto-anarchism
• Transhumanists. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transhumanism[10]

As of 2015, "The Darknet" is often used interchangeably with "The Dark Web" due to the quantity of hidden services on Tor's darknet. The term is often used inaccurately and interchangeably with the Deep Web search due to Tor's history as a platform that could not be search indexed. Mixing uses of both of these terms has been described as inaccurate,[11] with some commentators recommending the terms be used in distinct fashions.[12][13]

Uses

__________________________________________________ __________________

Darknets in general may be used for various reasons, such as:

To better protect the privacy rights of citizens from targeted and mass surveillance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance

Protecting dissidents from political reprisal

Whistleblowing and news leaks

Computer crime (hacking, file corruption etc.)

Sale of restricted goods on darknet markets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darknet_market

File sharing (pornography, confidential files, illegal or counterfeit software etc.)

Originally Posted by wjblaney

Uses

__________________________________________________ __________________

Darknets in general may be used for various reasons, such as:

To better protect the privacy rights of citizens from targeted and mass surveillance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance

Protecting dissidents from political reprisal

Whistleblowing and news leaks

Computer crime (hacking, file corruption etc.)

Sale of restricted goods on darknet markets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darknet_market

File sharing (pornography, confidential files, illegal or counterfeit software etc.)

Kiddie Porn.

if you don't connect first through your own VPN before you connect to an entry node your ISP will have your IP tied to a Tor entry node

maybe google "information leakage using tor browser" if you want to use Tor

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Kiddie Porn.

I'm not advertising it and are u saying it's not available on Firefox, IE and Chrome?

Originally Posted by baldrick

if you don't connect first through your own VPN before you connect to an entry node your ISP will have your IP tied to a Tor entry node

would u recommend a VPN? say ExpressVPN?

Originally Posted by baldrick

if you don't connect first through your own VPN before you connect to an entry node your ISP will have your IP tied to a Tor entry node

(First of all, an aside: from what I've read, I understand you need to trust your VPN provider. WTF? How do know they're trustworthy? Secondly, I found Win 7 has a builtin VPN. So, it's free. Is that automatically untrustworthy? The not-for-free VPNs can cost anywhere from $5/mo.--$50/year for AirVPN, which will work with Tor, to $9.00/mo, if you subscribe for a year--ExpressVPN--and not sure if it will even work with Tor)

According to a post on reddit, what you say is true. That's one of three scenarios it describes.

Scenario one (the one you mentioned):

Your internet connection is being monitored (perhaps at your ISP, or between you and your ISP):

Tor, no VPN:

• You connect to site X through a Tor circuit, so you can be seen using Tor, and what the first relay is, but cannot determine the content of the transmission, or what site you are connecting to (X).

Tor, with VPN:

• You are seen connecting to your VPN provider, they cannot tell that you are using Tor. Your VPN provider can tell that you are using Tor, and the initial relay, but cannot determine the content, or destination of the traffic.

Conclusion: either your VPN provider or your ISP provider will know you're using Tor. So what's the difference? It's like someone knows I'm using IE or Chrome. Tor is just a fucking browser.

Scenario two (this worries me much more):

Site X is being monitored:

Tor, no VPN:

• A connection can be seen to site X, but it is seen as coming from a Tor exit node, so they know you use Tor, but cannot determine you IP address.

Tor, with VPN:

• As above, but the first relay in the Tor circuit sees a connection from your VPN provider, instead of you.

Conclusion: no VPN, the site monitors are seeing your connection from an exit node and they still cannot see your IP address. With VPN, and it's untrustworthy, could you be fooked? I think the following scenario addresses that.

Scenario 3:

Information is available from your VPN provider:

Tor, no VPN:

• N/A as the VPN is not used

Tor, with VPN:

• The VPN provider knows that you are connecting to Tor, as they see you connecting to the first relay, but they do not know about site X, or the content of the traffic.

My conclusion is, I don't see a VPN adding a necessary layer of privacy or security while I'm using Tor. And it will further slow what's already a slow connection.

source site: https://www.reddit.com/r/TOR/comment...unning_tor_or/

I used to use Tor occasionally and still have it on my computer.

It does slow things down a bit.

Originally Posted by baldrick

if you are your own VPN provider it makes the argument moot

get bitcoin - rent VPS for 5 USD a month - install and configure OpenVPN server - install TOR entry node - route all traffic required to the TOR entry node

I chose a VPS provider located in Bulgaria as it was Europe but not really - though their govt does block gambling sites

I would do it but I don't think you addressed the need for a VPN, given the 3 scenarios I presented or any other that you can think of.

Would like advice about cryptography and 2fa authentication.

Been looking at (i.e., downloaded) the following software: gpg4win and gpg4usb. The best advice I've read says don't use Windows at all. Unfortunately, I can't give it up. So don't like gpg4win bc it runs on your C drive. Also, read about it corrupting keys.

Best advice for windows is Tails, as I understand it. It runs on your USB drive, as does gpg4usb, which seems to be the second best encryption/decryption and key management software out there. But Tails is a live OS: https://tails.boum.org/

Any opinions?

Originally Posted by wjblaney

Best advice for windows is Tails

tails does not run on windows - you boot tails from the USB or CD when you boot

you say you need windows , then best run it in a VM - only high graphics demand games will require you to have a bare metal windows install and you could have one of those in a partition to boot from when you want to play those games. all the other times you can boot into linux and have windows in a VM to do your windows stuff , tails in another VM , plan9 in another etc etc

but you really need to understand leaking information if you want to be really anonymous

gpg is just a cryptographic key - public and private which you use to encrypt and sign messages

Originally Posted by baldrick

tails does not run on windows - you boot tails from the USB or CD when you boot

you say you need windows , then best run it in a VM

looks like my lenovo bios will allow a boot from any USB device I've got plugged in.

Don't see the necessity for a VM, however. I only use my computer as a music/video player and to log on to forums. Will be using a USB device for Tails and Tor. What does a VM provide me, considering what I use a computer for? Security?

Thanks for turning me onto SSDs, btw. Got a Samsung Evo 850 500 gb. I already posted about it but am offering personal thanks.

I also look for a VPN

many would say Tor is all you need, even if installed on Windows. I went the extra mile and put it on Tails which I have on a USB drive.

Originally Posted by jesse

I also look for a VPN

Try Betternet. It's simple, completely free and doesn't constantly try to get you to upgrade to the paid version.

Only problem is that Google is often in English and Arabic, and news is not the news in your local area.

Tor not so great for the "Dark Web" after all?

https://surveillancevalley.com/blog/...overnment-ties

The Tor Project, a private non-profit that underpins the dark web and enjoys cult status among privacy activists, is almost 100% funded by the US government.

By following the money,I discovered that Tor was not a grassroots. I was able to show that despite its indie radical cred and claims to help its users protect themselves from government surveillance online, Tor was almost 100% funded by three U.S. National Security agencies: the Navy, the State Department and the BBG. Following the money revealed that Tor was not a grassroots outfit, but a military contractor with its own government contractor number. In other words: it was a privatized extension of the very same government that it claimed to be fighting.

The documents conclusively showed that Tor is not independent at all. The organization did not have free reign to do whatever it wanted, but was kept on a very short leash and bound by contracts with strict contractual obligations. It was also required to file detailed monthly status reports that gave the U.S. government a clear picture of what Tor employees were developing, where they went and who they saw.

hahahahahahaha

yes , everyone knows TOR was first developed by the US navy -it is not any more

rather than conspiracy nutter websites run for clickbait advertising revenue and selling nutters books and videos
try other sites
https://www.expressvpn.com/internet-...y/tor/history/

but for historians, it is difficult to determine what debates the military and intelligence organizations involved went through, and which arguments convinced them to release the software for public use, under a free license, in 2002. The responsibility to maintain the project was handed over to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which then handed control to The Tor Project. The majority of its funds still come from the United States government, though the government of Sweden also contributes significantly.

The reasons for the government’s involvement in the Tor Project are as confusing as they are schizophrenic. The government wants to continue to use the Tor network to obfuscate the source of its attacks, to infiltrate civil rights movements, and to enable its spies to communicate intelligence securely and effectively. On the other hand, they gave the public a tool that would allow anyone to obfuscate the source of their attacks and hide, or information, from the government.

Originally Posted by baldrick

rather than conspiracy nutter websites run for clickbait advertising revenue and selling nutters books and videos
try other sites

ok then, I'll just order a product from your recommended link/site.

https://www.expressvpn.com/order