Using the TOR browser on an Android smartphone. Install and use TOR browser
Tor (short for The Onion Router) is free software for implementing the second generation of so-called “onion routing”. This is a system that allows you to establish an anonymous network connection that is protected from eavesdropping. It is considered as an anonymous network that provides data transmission in encrypted form.
Preface
Unfortunately, anonymity on the Internet is needed not only by villains and hooligans, but also by normal honest people, in order to avoid persecution for the right to simply express their opinion or publish facts that the existing authorities of any country are trying to hide from the people.
Therefore, if you don’t want unnecessary problems, then it’s time to reconsider your careless attitude towards using the Internet - learn to hide and encrypt your activities on the Internet. This article proposes one of the solutions to the problem of safe use of the Internet - overcoming the blocking of its resources by providers, ensuring anonymity when communicating and when visiting sites, blogs, forums, etc. This is a system Tor.
To date Tor- one of the best tools for anonymous work on the Internet. In addition, the use Tor absolutely free. All you need is a computer and desire.
Unfortunately, there is currently very little literature on installing and using the Tor system. And the one that exists is far from complete. On the official website of the developers Tor- only a few pages have been translated into Russian.
1. General considerations about anonymity on the Internet
A person wrote and sent an email, visited a website, left a message on a forum, etc. Any of these actions allows you to find this person and find out who he is. And if desired, bring them to justice. It turns out that packets intercepted on the Internet can be used as evidence in court. (There have already been precedents!)
How can you find a person based on his activities on the Internet?
The main "traitor" is your IP address. IP address is the network address of a computer in a network built using the IP protocol. It is necessary for data routing, in other words, if you want to receive information from any server, you must indicate your address as the recipient address. But by IP address you can always find the computer from which a request for information was sent or any other action was performed. You can also establish the provider that provided Internet access, your real location and a number of other information. There are no ways to “so that no IP address is displayed”!
Therefore, beginners often ask the question: “How can I change my IP address?”
The answer to this question will be very short - " No way!"
But you can slip those who are interested in some other address instead of your IP address, and thereby send them on a search for themselves in an unknown direction. Or you can use an IP address that will not lead directly to you. This path is more difficult.
There are many ways to spoof your IP address. All of them are somehow connected with the use of proxy servers (proxies). A proxy server is an intermediary server. Those. all packets pass from the user to the source through an intermediate proxy server. Some proxies can be anonymous (not all). When working through an anonymous proxy, the IP address of the proxy server, not the user, will remain on the visited resource.
But not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance. Firstly, not all proxies are anonymous. And anonymity can be different. Finding a good, reliable anonymous server, and a free one at that, is not at all easy.
Secondly, on the proxy server itself, as a rule, logs are kept (a log of visits), which contain the IP addresses of all visitors and the time of visit. Once you have access to the logs, it won’t be very difficult to find out your address. That is, anonymity seems to exist, but if you really want to, they will find you.
In addition to the IP address, there are other ways to identify a person on the Internet. If an open (not encrypted) information transmission channel is used, then the transmitted packets may contain an email address, account number, logins and passwords for logging into the corresponding resources, and much more. Such information, as a rule, is quite sufficient to find a person using it.
You should know that no method provides a 100% guarantee of anonymity. It all depends on how hard they search. If, for example, you hacked a bank server and transferred several million somewhere, then they will search for a long time and carefully, possibly with the participation of specialists from Interpol. And they will most likely find it. And if the cost of the issue is not so great - penetration (without hacking) into a closed resource, or posting information on the Internet that someone does not like, or if the user simply prefers not to “shine” himself as a visitor to this resource. In such cases, they may not be found or will not look at all.
Something like the joke about the elusive Joe, who was elusive because no one needed him.
Thus, real anonymity on the Internet depends on the reliability of the methods used, and how much (and who) is searched.
The exchange of information messages on the Internet necessarily occurs through a provider - an organization that provides access. In the absence of appropriate protection, the provider will know everything: who sent (IP address), where he sent it and what was sent. Moreover, it can close (block) certain Internet resources from you. In China, the authorities have generally managed to filter almost all Internet traffic, preventing fellow citizens from accessing ideologically harmful resources.
By the way, it is not very widely known that in Russia there is a system of operational investigative measures called SORM-2, which is designed to control the Internet. Russian providers are required to cooperate with authorities and will accordingly provide them with any information passing through them.
And if you sometimes visit “seditious” opposition Internet resources, then it is possible that the database of the relevant organizations is already accumulating information about you.
Recent trends in laws and technology threaten anonymity like never before, killing at the root the ability to freely read, write, or simply express your opinion on the Internet.
The above will allow you to find the correct answer to the question: “Do you need anonymity on the Internet?”
If the answer is found, then it’s time to start studying the Tor system.
2. What is Tor?
Despite the fact that the name comes from an acronym, it is customary to write "Tor" rather than "TOR". Only the first letter is capitalized.
Tor is free software and an open network that helps you protect against network surveillance, known as traffic sniffing, that threatens personal freedom and privacy, the confidentiality of business contacts and communications, and government security.(Definition from the program website http://www.torproject.org)
Thus, Tor is not only software, but also a distributed system of servers between which traffic passes encrypted. (Sometimes Tor system servers are called nodes.) At the last node server in the chain, the transmitted data undergoes a decryption procedure and is transmitted to the target server in clear text. In addition, after a given time interval (about 10 minutes), the chain is periodically changed (the packet route changes). With this approach, the channel can only be opened by hacking all the servers in the chain, which is practically impossible, because they are located in different countries, and the chain itself is constantly changing. As of April 2011, the Tor network includes more than 2,500 nodes scattered across all continents of the Earth. All nodes operate using the SOCKS protocol.
Encryption is performed as follows. Before sending, the packet is sequentially encrypted with three keys: first for the third node, then for the second and, finally, for the first. When the first node receives the packet, it decrypts the “top” layer of the cipher and knows where to send the packet next. The second and third servers do the same. It was these layers of encryption that reminded the authors of the onion. That's where the name and logo came from.
A well-known civil liberties organization has announced support for the Tor project. Electronic Frontier Foundation, which began to actively promote the new system and make significant efforts to maximize the expansion of the network of nodes.
Many public organizations now support the development of Tor because they see it as a mechanism for protecting basic civil rights and freedoms on the Internet.
The most frequently heard accusation against the Tor network is the possibility of its use for criminal purposes. But in reality, computer criminals are much more likely to use homemade means to do this, be it VPN, hacked networks, wireless communications, or other methods.
Tor can work not only with web browsers, but also with many existing TCP-based applications. Applications for working on the Internet, in the simplest case a browser, must also be configured to work with Tor.
The Tor system allows you to hide final (target) addresses from the provider, thereby breaking through a possible blockade of access to network resources blocked by it. The Tor system also reliably hides the sender’s address from target resources.
However, Tor allows the interception of the contents of messages (without identifying the sender) due to the need to decrypt them at the exit node! However, for such interception you need to install a traffic analyzer (sniffer) at the output nodes, which is not always easy to do. Especially when you consider that the output nodes are constantly changing.
As you know, no system can be 100% secure. The Tor developer community is constantly analyzing possible ways to de-anonymize its clients (so-called attacks) and looking for ways to combat them.
Another advantage of Tor is that it is free software. Those. its distribution is completely free and open source.
The Tor Project is a non-profit (charitable) organization that maintains and develops Tor software.
The Tor system was initially developed in a US Navy laboratory under federal contract. In 2002, the development was declassified, and the source codes were transferred to independent developers who created client software and published the source code under a free license so that anyone could check it for bugs and other vulnerabilities. (According to the system developers, by January 2009 the number of bugs became zero.)
3. Additional components
It should be understood that the mere fact of installing Tor does not anonymize your computer’s network connections. Additional software components and settings are required. The Tor program only manages encryption and determines the path of packets through the relay network.
1. First of all, we need a virtual proxy server installed on the user's computer. It is sometimes called a "filtering proxy". Such a proxy is an intermediate link between user applications for working on the Internet and the Tor network.
There are two main options for a filtering proxy server - these are Privoxy And Polipo.
Several years ago, the developers of the Tor system recommended using Privoxy. Now they only include in all assemblies posted on the torproject.org website Polipo.
It is quite difficult to compare their characteristics. Polipo considered miniature - size less than 200K. All its settings are contained in the file polipo.conf. I did not find detailed literature on its settings. It is possible that it is not needed.
To work with the Tor system, you should use the proxy version polipo no less than 1.0.4, since earlier versions do not support the SOCKS protocol, and therefore are not suitable for the Tor system.
Privoxy is a free web proxy with advanced Internet content filtering capabilities to protect the privacy of Internet users. Latest version 3.0.17. (2011) Although Privoxy is often used as an intermediate link between applications and the Tor program, it should not be forgotten that Privoxy can also be a completely independent program that protects the interests of its users at the HTTP protocol level.
There is enough comprehensive literature on the Internet on installing and configuring a filtering proxy Privoxy.
Let everyone decide for themselves which of the two proxies to use on their computer. It is strictly not recommended to use them at the same time, because Both proxy servers use port 8118 and interference may occur when working together.
The simplest advice: for those who don’t want to bother too much, it’s better to use Polipo, which is included in all the latest builds on torproject.org. Those who wish to have more advanced customization options should download and install Privoxy, and then, when installing the assembly, exclude Polipo from the installation.
2. To control the loading and operation of the Tor system, a program is used Vidalia. It is often called a graphical shell for Tor.
In settings Vidalia there are options to launch Tor and a filtering proxy at startup Vidalia, start and stop Tor while running, view a map of the Tor network, and others. Working with in more detail Vidalia will be discussed in 8. Configuring Tor settings using the Vidalia shell.
When starting the program Vidalia The Vidalia onion icon should appear. In Windows OS it appears in the system tray (next to the clock) (see figure), in Ubuntu OS it appears in the taskbar. You can open the Vidalia window by left-clicking on its icon.
In the first picture Tor is disabled, in the second it is enabled.
Now, with Tor, a filtering proxy server and Vidalia, you can configure applications to work with Tor, or as they say, “Torify applications”.
3. TorButton- filtering plugin for the Nozilla FireFox browser. Included in many assemblies.
This combination is good because it sometimes significantly increases the user’s anonymity. Torbutton blocks browser plugins such as Java, Flash, ActiveX, etc., which could theoretically be used to reveal your IP address. Torbutton also tries to handle cookies securely, which also improves anonymity. In addition, it can be used to enable or disable Tor in the browser. Those. in the first case, FireFox will work through Tor, and in the second directly.
4. Some assemblies contain Pidgin- multi-protocol (icq, jabber, ...) Internet pager. The practical value of anonymous paging over the Internet is small. Therefore, it will not be considered further.
5. FirefoxPortable- portable browser based on FireFox. It is only included in the package Tor Browser. FirefoxPortable is a portable version of the Firefox browser configured to work with Tor, along with an extension Torbutton. It starts automatically immediately after establishing a connection in the Tor system.
4. Packages (assemblies) of the Tor system
Tor software is developed for various operating systems:
Microsoft Windows family OS
OS family Linux/Unix
And for smartphones (Android OS, iPhone, iPad, etc.)
For each operating system, there are various options for custom software assemblies (packages) to ensure the operation of the Tor system. You can download any of the possible options on the Russian-language page of the developers’ website https://www.torproject.org/download.html.ru
There are usually two versions of each package, stable and alpha. Stable versions are released when developers believe that the code and functionality provided will no longer change. Alpha or unstable versions are made so that you can help test and tweak new features. Even if they have a higher version number than the stable versions listed above, there is a much greater chance of serious reliability and security problems due to bugs in unstable, and therefore not fully tested, versions.
Let's look at existing packages for the Microsoft Windows operating system (as the most common).
There are four stable package options:
- Building Tor Browser contains everything you need to work safely on the Internet. This package does not require installation. Just unzip it and run it.
Plastic bag Vidalia Bundle contains Tor, Vidalia, Polipo, And Torbutton for installation on a computer. You also need Firefox. And to use Tor, applications will need to be torified.
Plastic bag Bridge-by-Default Vidalia Bundle is a Vidalia Bundle which is configured to be a bridge in order to help censored users reach the Tor network. (Vidalia Bundl, which is configured to act as a bridge to help blocked users reach the Tor network.)
- Expert package contains only Tor and nothing else. You need to manually install and configure your set of additional components, as well as torify the applications.
Assembly Expert package used primarily for testing and developing improved versions of Tor software. The name speaks for itself.
Obviously, for those who are taking their first steps in using the Tor system, the first two package options are of interest.
Assembly Tor Browser will allow you to work without installations and settings. True, working with it is usually limited to using the built-in portable FireFox browser (FirefoxPortable). As for anonymity, it is ensured in full.
Assembly Vidalia Bundle will provide more options for customizing and using different applications (torification), and therefore a wider range of actions in the Tor system.
There are also assemblies compiled by third-party developers. For example, assembly OperaTor. It includes the Opera browser, the Tor client and the Polipo virtual proxy server ( Vidalia- absent). Only work via the HTTP and HTTPS protocols is anonymized.
After the session ends OperaTor all information about him is erased. Latest version OperaTor 3.5 was released on January 6, 2010 and includes: Opera v. 10.10 and Tor v. 0.2.1.21. (Generally speaking, this is not the best use of the Tor system.)
5. First steps with Tor - Tor Browser package
The simplest and most convenient way for novice users of the Tor system is to use a portable anonymizing assembly Tor Browser.
Generally speaking, there are two versions of Tor Browser: Tor Browser Bundle for Windows with Firefox(version 1.3.26, 16 MB) and Tor IM Browser Bundle for Windows with Firefox and Pidgin(version 1.3.21, 25 MB). (Pidgin is a multi-protocol Internet pager.) If you do not plan to use an Internet pager, then it is better to download the first version.)
The package does not require installation. All you need is to download the Russian version of the Tor Browser assembly http://www.torproject.org/dist/torbrowser/tor-browser-1.3.26_ru.exe from the developer’s website. This is a self-extracting archive. Unpack it into the directory you specify and run the file from it Start Tor Browser.exe. A clear example of how the principle works Installed it and everything works!"
The package contains all the components necessary for anonymous work on the network (Tor, filtering proxy server Polipo and Vidalia), and additionally a portable FireFox browser version 3.6. with built-in TorButton plugin.
After launch Start Tor Browser.exe Tor, Vidalia and Polipo graphical shell are launched automatically. In this case (if, of course, there is a connection to the Internet), a connection with the Tor network begins and a chain of intermediate servers is formed. The process takes from one to several minutes.
When Tor is running and the chain of intermediate servers is installed, Vidalia looks like this:
When Tor is disabled, then
After the chain is formed, the FirefoxPortable browser automatically launches. That's all! You can start surfing the Internet anonymously.
With a normal Internet connection, the first line of the page will contain the message:
Congratulations. Your browser is configured to use Tor
This means that your browser is configured to work anonymously with Tor.
Below will be a message like:
Additional Information:
Your IP address: 87.84.208.241
This is the IP address of one of the exit servers of the Tor network, which replaces your real address.
This means everything is in order, and you are already working anonymously through the Tor network.
To be sure of your anonymity, you need to know your real IP address. To do this, you can first go to the test page of the Tor site, not anonymously, or to some other site that allows you to determine the IP address.
In conclusion, here are some practical tips for working with the Tor Browser package:
If the FirefoxPortable browser does not start automatically, you should run the file...\<каталог TorBrowser>\FirefoxPortable\FirefoxPortable.exe
The FirefoxPortable browser cannot run simultaneously with other versions of Mozilla FireFox browsers.
For normal (non-anonymous) work on the Internet, it is advisable to use FirefoxPortable, and some other browser, for example Opera.
Sometimes it can be useful, in order to increase secrecy, to write down (unzip) the package Tor Browser(size approximately 64M) not to the computer’s hard drive, but to a flash drive and run from there only when anonymous work is necessary. In this case, no traces of your anonymous work will remain on the hard drive. All settings and parameters made for Tor, the FirefoxPortable portable browser and TorButton will also be saved only on a flash drive.
6. Installing Tor on Windows - Vidalia Bundle
Unlike Tor Browser all other assemblies (packages) install Tor and additional components.
The components work approximately the same as in Tor Browser, but there are some nuances. So, for example, if you have not installed the Mozilla FireFox browser, it will not install TorButton. Therefore, it is recommended to install FireFox before installing Vidalia Bundle.
The following pictures show the package installation process Vidalia Bundle B>:
Assembly Vidalia Bundle for Windows contains Tor, Vidalia, Polipo and Torbutton (version numbers can be seen in the last picture).
As can be seen from the 2nd figure, if the FireFox browser is not installed on the computer, the installation program warns about this, recommends installing it and repeating the installation.
All standard configuration components are installed by default configured to work together.
If the user wants to use a different configuration, for example, use the Privoxy filtering proxy server or another browser for anonymous work, check the boxes on unnecessary components. In this case, Privoxy and the browser must be installed in advance.
Tor is installed as the default client program. It uses a built-in configuration file and most users do not need to change any settings. However, sections 8 and 9 cover many additional settings for the Tor system on your computer.
For those of our readers who have never heard of the TOP browser, know nothing about closed sites, restricting access via IP, or tracking users on the Internet, this step-by-step instructions will be especially useful. In it we will figure out how to download the TOR browser in Russian for free, and we will also tell you what it is and why this program is needed in general.
Tor Browser is a unique (unusual) browser in which all user data and all information about the visit as a whole are hidden. This is very, very useful if:
— you do not want your actions on Internet sites to be tracked in any way;
— you do not want to transfer information about your actions to statistics services;
— you do not want the system to remember any of your actions on the Internet at all;
— you want to get to the pages of a site that is “closed” in your region;
— you want to visit a web site without being identified by its administration;
— you want to browse the Internet without being monitored;
— you want to hide your real location, which can usually be tracked by the IP address of your visit.
Download and install TOR browser every user with Internet access can. There are no difficulties during the downloading and installation process, and if you follow our step-by-step instructions, the task ceases to be a problem!
How to download TOR Browser: step-by-step instructions
Step #1
First, go to the official website of the developer using the link:
Step #2
On this page, look for the “Download Tor Browser Bundle” button (square button with an up arrow), as in the screenshot (you can zoom in), and click on it:
Note: for MacOS, Linux and Windows, the developers offer additional installation instructions; you can find links to these materials at the very bottom of the official website (in the footer of the site - look for them carefully). Perhaps information from the developer will be useful in installing the program. But in the simplest case, none of this will be useful to us, and therefore we simply continue the story.
Step #3
After the file is downloaded to your computer, the TOP browser will be ready for installation, and you can begin installing the program. In this step-by-step instruction, we will consider this issue in detail in the second part of the article. So let's continue.
How to install TOR Browser: step-by-step instructions
Step #1
We launch (open) the downloaded archive with the TOP browser installation file, where we see 3 files.
We have already talked more than once about how to find a file downloaded in a browser to a computer, and in these instructions we will open the file simply through the “Downloads” of the browser. You can find this file in another way - from the browser control panel, from a specific directory on your computer, . The point is that you need to open the archive that you just downloaded.
In the archive downloaded from the official website of the TOP browser, you will find:
a) installation file for the TOP program;
b) ad blocker installation file (it is recommended to install it too);
c) a file with tips for installing a software application (text document).
Of course, you can install an ad blocking program on your computer yourself, and we will focus on installing the TOP browser itself. Run the file “torbrowser-install-***_ru.exe” (this is the largest file in this archive) and begin the step-by-step installation.
Step #2
The installer will extract from the archive and immediately prompt you to select a language. Since you yourself wanted to download the TOR browser for free in Russian, we leave it in Russian. Click "OK".
Step #3
In the next step, you can change the installation folder, but this is not necessary, so just click on the “Install” button and start the installation process.
Step #4
At the end, you just need to click on the “Done” button a couple of times, but even screenshots are not needed here - everything is so simple. Click “Finish” 2 times and watch the TOR browser launch from your computer’s memory.
Another thing is that working with TOP may raise questions for a beginner, for example, at the connection stage. Here you should follow the developer’s recommendations and start launching with the simplest settings by clicking on the “Connect” button. Usually, this is already enough to work in a secure TOP system.
In general, everything is simple and clear, which means that this step-by-step instruction can be considered complete. Internet without surveillance using the TOR browser is available to everyone! In some extreme cases, the reader may need to additionally configure the TOP browser in accordance with the characteristics of a particular Internet provider and Internet connection, but it is difficult to give precise instructions here, since the problem must be solved differently in each individual case.
In any case, using the “Settings” button and prompt questions from the program developers, you can easily set up access to your Network. In addition, watch the video below this article and perhaps the installation will become even easier for you.
Apparently, the Tor network remains unhacked. At least according to a 2012 internal NSA report, while the organization has had the ability to reveal the ownership of certain nodes in certain cases, it is generally unable to disclose any node upon request. Yes, and these disclosures occurred due to situations such as an error in the Firefox browser, which was part of the tor bundle and other similar things. If you use Tor correctly, the likelihood of exposure is extremely low.
2. Tor is not only used by criminals
Contrary to popular belief, Tor is not only used by criminals, pedophiles and other bad terrorists. This, to put it mildly, is far from true. Activists of various kinds, journalists, and simply people who love privacy make up the portrait of Tor users. Personally, I am very impressed by the position of the Tor developers, answering the question “what, do you have something to hide?” with the phrase: “No, it’s not a secret - it’s just none of your business.”And criminals have a large arsenal of tools, from changing identities to stolen devices or network access, from botnets to Trojan viruses. By using and promoting Tor, you are helping criminals no more than using the Internet.
3. Tor has no hidden loopholes or backdoors
There are rumors that Tor was created by the military, and they deliberately created hidden loopholes in it. Although Tor was originally funded by the US Navy, its code has since been publicly available and many cryptography experts have studied its source code. Everyone can study them. And now enthusiasts, advocates of privacy and anonymity on the Internet, are working on the project.There is also information that US intelligence agencies hold about 60% of all nodes - but this is most likely a distorted information that about 60% of funding is provided by the US in the form of grants.
4. There have been no cases of anyone being convicted for supporting a relay node
True, in Europe, in this beacon of human rights and legal paradise, or more precisely in Austria, just the other day the person who held the output node was accused of complicity, because Illegal traffic passed through this node. So the danger of maintaining an output node is obvious. Well, relay nodes should be out of danger, since according to the network operation scheme they do not know where the request came from, where it is directed, or what traffic they transmit. And it is almost impossible to prove the passage of traffic through relay.5. Tor is easy to use.
Many people think that Tor is something difficult for hackers and computer geniuses. In fact, the developers have already made it as easy as possible to use - just download Tor Browser, and when you launch it, you will automatically use the Tor network. No settings, commands on the command line, etc.6. Tor is not as slow as you think
Just a couple of years ago the network was slow. Now access to sites occurs at quite acceptable speed. Yes, you can’t download torrents through Tor - it’s both slow and harmful to the network. But you can carry out any other usual activity without irritation.7. Tor is not a panacea
When using Tor, you still need to follow a few rules and understand a little about how it works, what it can do and what it cannot do, so as not to nullify all its efforts. If you are using the Tor Browser and are also logged into Facebook, this makes little sense. Understand how it works and use it wisely.Personally, I am a supporter of maintaining privacy and anonymity on the Internet. I promote and encourage everyone to support the Tor project as necessary and useful, especially in light of the sad events with the new laws “against the Internet.” Support the Tor network. Set up a relay for yourself - if you can allocate at least 50 kb/s in your channel for Tor, this will already be enough.
Why I advocate privacy and the possibility of anonymity. After all, I’m a law-abiding citizen and I have nothing to hide, right?
Well, I personally can answer this with the following arguments:
- I may have nothing to hide, but what I do is none of your business
- times change, people change, and laws change. I wrote something in the comments, and a couple of years after the adoption of another smart law, it suddenly became classed as extremist statements
- I don’t believe that all the people who are trying to monitor my actions are crystal honest and devoted servants of Themis. That no one will try to use the information received for their own dirty selfish purposes.
It will be interesting to know your opinion on issues of privacy and anonymity, %username%
A lot of time has passed. And the situation in RuNet with government regulation has only worsened. Many sites are blocked en masse for a variety of reasons and even simply “by mistake” (because they were on the same IP with “suspicious sites”). Therefore, various types have become more in demand than ever. Interest in . After our last article, readers began to receive questions about help setting up Tor.
Questions of this nature:
1) How to work through Tor using any Internet browsers (not just a special Tor browser)?
2) How to torify any applications (for example, Skype, ICQ, etc.)
3) What should I do if my Internet Service Provider (ISP) blocks access to Tor?
We will try to answer all these questions using clear examples. To torify all (or almost all of our Internet traffic) a standard package is not suitable for us Tor Brouser Bundle which is unpacked onto your desktop or flash drive and includes already configured Tor and a special browser.
We need to install the "stationary version" on the operating system, this is the package Vidalia-bundle(it includes: Vidalia, Tor).
We install it on the system (see our article), then upon first launch we will immediately set the settings for work:
Fig.1. Tor settings - "Exchange2
Fig.2. Tor Settings - "Network"
1) Now we begin to configure our working browsers for anonymous work viaTor.
Setting it upInternetExplorer:
In Windows 7, to do this, go to the options “Control Panel – Network and Internet – Internet Options – Connections – Network Settings – Configuring Local Network Settings”, check the box "Proxy server" open a tab "Additionally", we'll put it there clause 4. Socks: 127.0.0.1:9050
See screenshots (3,4,5).
Rice. 4. Proxy server
Fig.5. Socks5
That's it, our IE works through Tor.
Setting it upGoogle Chrome:
Google Chrome should be the "default browser" on your operating system. Then see fig. 6:
Rice. 6. Proxy server settings
After you click on the button “Change proxy server settings” You will see the already familiar Internet browser settings tabs. See screenshots (3,4,5). If you completed the previous step correctly ( Setting up Internet Explorer), then Google Chrome also works for you through the Tor network.
Setting up the browserOpera:
To do this, go to the point “Settings – Advanced – Network – Proxy servers.”
Check the box Socks: (and enter the following data there) 127.0.0.1:9050
See screenshots 7 and 8.
Setting up the Mozilla Firefox browser:
For this we need Foxy Proxy Basic plugin, which we will install in the section "Extensions", see fig. 9:
Then, when the plugin is installed, select the mode "Tor proxy for all addresses"(see Fig. 10)
Rice. 10. Select Tor for all addresses
and set up the settings as in Fig. eleven
That’s it, now there will be no more “forbidden sites” left for you...
You can check your “new” IP address through the website http://2ip.ru
When you work through the Tor network, your address will be different from the one you received from your ISP.
2) Let's torifySkype,ICQ,µTorrent:
To torify Skype, go to “Settings – Connections”, select the SOCKS5 tab, enter 127.0.0.1:9050
See fig. 12:
The same settings must be made for ICQ.
For torrent client µTorrent:
Let's go to "Settings - Connections" and set the settings as in screenshot 13:
That's it, you can safely work with torrents.
3) Well, the most difficult question. What to do if your Internet provider (ISP) blocks access toTor?
But for this case we downloaded the distribution kit Vidalia Bridge Bundle (for Windows 8, 7, Vista, and XP), This is a package for accessing the Tor network through a so-called "bridge".
See screenshot 14:
Let's briefly explain how it all works.
What does the term “bridge repeaters” mean?
Some internet service providers attempt to prevent users from accessing the Tor network by blocking connections to known Tor relays. Bridge relays (or bridges for short) help such blocked users gain access to the Tor network. Unlike other Tor relays, bridges are not listed in public directories as regular relays. Since there is no complete public list, even if your ISP filters connections to all known Tor relays, it is unlikely that it will be able to block all bridges.
How to find bridge type repeaters?
There are two main ways to find out the address of bridges:
A) Ask friends to organize private bridges for you;
B) Use public bridges.
To use private bridges, ask friends to launch Vidalia and Tor from an unblocked area of the Internet and click "Help Blocked Users" in Vidalia's "Relay Configuration Page". They should then send you the “Bridge Address” (the line at the bottom of their relay page).
Unlike the operation of a regular relay, a relay in bridge mode simply transmits and receives data from the Tor network, so you should not complain about any violations to the operator.
You can find public addresses for bridges by visiting https://bridges.torproject.org. The answers on this page change every few days, so check back periodically if you need more bridge addresses. Another way to find public bridge addresses is to send an email to [email protected]
Tor Browser is a free, portable package with the Firefox browser that allows you to ensure anonymity and privacy on the Internet. Can be used on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux platforms.
The Tor browser is convenient because it does not require installation on a computer, it does not have complex settings and, thus, is suitable for inexperienced users. It allows you to hide your real location, IP address and other identification data.
How does the Tor system work? It contains the principle of so-called onion routing. Members of the TOR community launch a network of proxy servers around the world, which become communication hubs. The data transmitted by users is encrypted many times, and each level of encryption represents another layer of the onion packet. The information packet, before reaching its final destination, passes through a cycle of randomly selected node servers. At each subsequent checkpoint, one layer of the cipher is decrypted, containing information about the next intermediate node. After reading the information, the used layer of the onion is destroyed. The cycle is repeated several times.
The Tor Browser is mainly used by bloggers, hackers, journalists, law enforcement agencies, users from countries with Internet censorship, etc.
Key features of Tor Browser:
- does not require installation and runs from portable media
- Russified and easy to use interface
- anonymous and safe surfing
- encryption of transmitted data
- disabling potentially dangerous functions (cookie, flash, javascript, browsing history, browser cache)
- ability to access blocked resources
How to use Tor Browser
To download Tor Browser for free, go to the developer’s official website www.torproject.org
After downloading and running the installer, the browser files will be unpacked into a folder specified by the user. Next, we launch the program itself and wait for a connection to the network.
After connecting to the Tor network, the browser loads and you can see the project page. By default, all the necessary options are configured in the browser, but you should pay attention to the “No script” plugin.
He is responsible for blocking various scripts, because... they may pose a risk to the user's privacy. By default, the plugin is enabled, and if you decide to visit a supposedly dangerous resource, you should disable the display of scripts in this add-on.
Also in the Tor browser you can select a search engine from the list of available ones or connect another one. The disadvantages of Tor Browser include slower loading of web pages than in conventional browsers.
In a time of virtually complete lack of online privacy, Tor Browser is an excellent and necessary security tool.
