All You Need To Know About TOR

It’s hard to believe that you’re tracked or spied by some government sniffers like NSA (US), NETRA(India) whenever you’re online. This is very frightening. But there are still many good guys than the bad ones, and they do what they like to do, not what they are told to do! If you’re going to use it for the first time then you must know some of the facts of Tor…
Tor is free software that allows users to anonymously browse the Web. So Tor is virtually untraceable, unlike standard browsers’ “Private” or “Incognito” mode. The software was originally named “The Onion Router”. It was intended to protect the U.S. Navy and its communications. Tor works by hiding the source and destination of your internet traffic.

How TOR Works:
Tor works by anonymizing the transport of the data. Tor encrypts the data in multiple layers. Then your data is relayed through other computers. Each relay sheds one layer then finally arrives at the source. Tor bounces users around a network of open connections run by volunteers all over the Globe. Tor scrambles information that could tell your exact physical destination.

Who uses Tor:
First of all, Tor is for everyone ranging from hackers (including cyber criminals) to basic internet surfers. Many use this software just to look how Tor works. Many a times, Activists and Journalists use the utility to report injustices from enemy without being discovered.

Getting Started:

The easiest way to use Tor is the browser bundle. The preconfigured Mozilla Firefox browser can be easily downloaded from Tor’s official site. Once downloaded, a message will appear asking you to “Connect” or “Configure”. In most of the times, you will simply connect. But you should configure browser if it’s possible that your connection is censored, filtered, or proxied. If you’re on a network that has firewalls and prohibits access to Tor (like China and Iran), you can download Tor via G mail. Send a message to “gettor@gettor.torproject.org”. In the body of the email write “help”. From there, you’ll receive step-by-step instructions to download Tor.

Browsing Guidelines: How to maintain the Privacy on Tor: Tor encourages users to read their browsing guidelines. The browser will ensure total anonymity only if the user abides by the Tor guidelines.

• Use the Tor Browser. In reality, Tor does not protect all of your machine’s internet traffic when you use it, but only computer applications that are correctly set up to send traffic through Tor.
• Forget your love for browser plugins. By default, the Tor browser has the likes of Flash, RealPlayer, and Quicktime blocked since they have been known to reveal your IP address. Installing additional plugins and add-ons onto the Tor is highly discouraged – it may cause Tor to malfunction and may affect your privacy settings. Although YouTube content is generally blocked s well, some videos can work on the Tor browser through an experimental opt-in feature.
• Always use HTTPS. It shouldn't be a problem if you’re using the Tor since it already includes HTTPS Everywhere.
• Don’t open downloaded materials while on Tor. Documents and PDF files may reveal your non-Tor IP address when you open it through external applications. Wait until you disconnect from the Internet.
• Do not torrent on Tor. It’s a deadly combo.
• Use Tor bridges. Like I previously mentioned, Tor doesn't really completely stop people watching your Internet connection from detecting your Tor use.
• Tell your friends and neighbors to use Tor. The more people near you that use Tor, the less susceptible you are to attacks.  

Accessing Tor’s Hidden Services
Tor can help circumvent censorship regulations. For e.g. Russia’s newly imposed blogger law, that requires Russian bloggers to register their blog with the government. Tor has a network of “hidden” websites all with a .onion address that are designed for uncensored web publishing or instant messaging servers. They get around censorship regulations by hiding the IP address. These hidden sites can only be accessed via Tor or other utilities that anonymize your IP address. Check out how to configure your hidden websites via Tor.

Disadvantages: As Tor has to go through a bunch of relays to mask your location, it will make your internet connection slower. There is also a risk of being targeted by the NSA and other Security administrators.