When we think of dark web the first thing we remember is the tor browser.
So, what is tor? Why is it made? Is it really safe? Does it have any vulnerabilities? Can we be tracked on tor? Blah blah blah….
You see we have many questions even before we start using it. so follow me as I am about to tell you all the things about this tor browser which can help you to decide for yourself whether you can use it or not !!!
Today most of the people are using the internet daily and as internet usage increased in recent years, the question about our privacy and anonymity has also become a really important matter. Here’s where the tor browser comes into action. Tor is not some blacklisted app that is only used by bad people to fulfill their desires (I mean, yeah, there are people who use it for wrong purposes), rather tor is a browser that is designed to provide you anonymity and privacy for your data.
What is Tor?
Tor is a free and open-source software which directs internet traffic through a free, worldwide, volunteer overlay network consisting of more than seven thousand relay points or nodes to conceal user’s location and traffic so that it won’t be visible to the people conducting network surveillance. In simple words tor encrypts your connects and sends them through a series of computer systems before finally going to the website that you wanna visit so that your traffic won’t be visible to the ISP.
Who made it?
The core principle of Tor, "onion routing", was developed in the mid-1990s by the United States Naval Research Laboratory employees, mathematician Paul Syverson, and computer scientists Michael G. Reed and David Goldschlag, with the purpose of protecting U.S. intelligence communications online. Then this online routing was further developed by DARPA(Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is an agency of the US Defense Department).
In December 2006, Dingledine, Mathewson, and five others founded The Tor Project, a Massachusetts-based research-education nonprofit organization responsible for maintaining Tor.
How Tor works?
Tor works on the principle of onion routing. In onion routing data is covered with a layer of encryption similar to the layers of an onion and is sent through a series of nodes over the tor network and at each node a layer of encryption is decrypted and at the final layer, the data is sent to the receiver. The sender remains anonymous because at each node you get information of the previous location(previous node) and the next location it should send the data.
Why is Tor designed?
Tor is designed to provide anonymity and privacy while we are browsing the internet. Although nowadays it is used to do some illicit businesses also.
Are there any Vulnerabilities?
Yes, there are some vulnerabilities. Nothing is perfect. Tor is not designed to completely erase your tracks but it helps to reduce your tracks.so, let's see some important things
1. Tor can be Hacked. As a matter of Fact Tor has been Hacked before. But this can be prevented largely by turning off the java scripts on the websites in the tor browser. In tor you can increase the security to the maximum level which blocks running of java-scripts.
2. NSA designed a technic code-named as Egotisticalgiraffe which peels off the onion layers and they can see your entire internet traffic. so be careful about what you use it for.
3. One can know your IP address and the IP address of the person you are talking to if they control both the entry and exit nodes. They can use those statistics to determine your IP, although the data which you are transmitting remains encrypted. But doing this kind of thing is not so easy and it gives mostly false-positive results.
4. Exit node Eavesdropping:
Tor does not encrypt your data between the exit node and target. And also there are some exit nodes that are caught sniffing data in the past. So, using SSL/TLS makes sniffing harder.
5. Browser Fingerprinting:
Browser fingerprinting means identifying a user on the internet by measuring and collecting various data like your screen size, fonts, plugins etc., and Calculating degree of which the combination is unique. I will be discussing more about this in my next blog post.
Is tor safe to use?
Yes, tor is safe to use and is one of the best options for anonymity and privacy out there for free.
Remember tor can be cracked but it takes a lot of time, effort, and money. So, if you are just a normal user who just use this for normal browsing or to browse some not-so-safe sites then you are at a lower risk of being monitored but if you want to use tor for illegal things like selling drugs, weapons, human trafficking then you might end up under surveillance.
How to stay safe while using tor?
Set the security bar in the tor to max. so it even blocks the javascript from running. Javascript is one of the main reasons for tor hacks.
And as the tor browser suggest don’t install any plugins on tor as it makes it easy to fingerprint your device. Your tor browser comes with the plugins like HTTPSEverywhere and NoScript.
Don’t maximize the tor browser. This helps you to reduce the chances of finding you through browser fingerprinting.
Conclusion:
Tor is one of the best tools to protect your privacy and anonymity. But even while using tor you need to take some measures so you have less chance of exposing yourself.
I would like to end this blog post with an interesting fact:
“Tor project is funded by U.S. Navy”
If you have any questions feel free to write to us.
Until then, happy hacking.
Peace.
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