With Tor members may send an email and instant messages, surf the web, and post content online without anybody knowing who or where exactly they are located. Subsequently, it is greatly acknowledged as a crucial tool for bypassing internet restrictions and thereby supporting freedom of expression.

Apparently, this is a great worry for countries that practice authoritarianism and wanted full control and censorship. The notable and most powerful of these countries is China, and the government works with a firewall that shields their citizens from accessing blocked websites.

Not too long ago, Philipp Winter and Stefan Lindskog at Karlstad University situated in Sweden have found a remedy. They have devised a means to circumvent the so-called Great Firewall of China that blocks Tor.

How is Tor blocked

One seemingly obvious means for China to block access to Tor is by preventing access from within the country towards the entry relays.  It is entirely easy as the entry relays are publicly listed, and thus, the firewall can effectively do this. Nonetheless, in expectation of the action, the Tor network will surely operate a couple of entry relays without publishing their details conspicuously to the public. Hence, it is made tougher to block and may easily be changed. The main issue is that the China firewall has found a means to find and effectively block these secret relays as well.

Recently, Winter and Lindskog found out a way to cloak the secret relays even further and unblock Tor. The trick is done by setting their very own secret relay and to attempt to connect to it from within China. Winter and Lindskog commented that the firewall utilizes deep pattern inspection to find the code in every outgoing communications or traffic. Once it locates it, it takes on a potential Tor connection. Thereafter, it attempts to make its very own connection. Once this occurs, the firewall will then block the future access to the IP address. Furthermore, they have devised means to deep packet inspection this.

Not contented, these guys even went to the extent of using Google’s reverse DNS lookup to track down who is working behind all the restrictions. The evidence pointed clearly to the direction of China: China Telecom and China Unicom.

So, how to unblock Tor network?

One good move is to use packet fragmentation. This is accomplished by dividing up the packets so as to deceive the deep packet inspection system. There is one great tool being developed, the so-called Obfsproxy. This will effectively mask the Tor traffic, which makes it look like something else like Skype traffic, for instance.

China is alarmed by the approach, so they actively blocked all published relays designed to make use of Obfsproxy. Nevertheless, the two wiz guys from Sweden have set up a private Obfsproxy relay in Sweden and have successfully connected to it from within China. It only goes to show that the deep packet inspection system cannot spot private Obfsproxy relays and therefore appears like a promising route onward. The sole reason that the China firewall is capable of detecting Tor Traffic is that it is easily distinguishable from other types of web traffic.

The subject of a great debate

Since Tor is an open and transparent organization, these talks about how to unblock Tor are undeniably occurring in public, and Chinese authorities know each and every plan of attack. The publication of the Winter and Lindskog’s white paper regarding their techniques are wide open to Chinese authorities’ full view and scrutiny.

These talks are highly susceptible of becoming blocked and forestalled by the Chinese authorities long before Tor’s people can even implement them.

We are one with Tor in this fight, free people from the shackles of Internet censorship, spread the word about this and support Tor all the way!

Note: This post isn’t about inviting you to do censored things on the Internet. It is about an open source, though publicly available, a solution that is used by most citizen media activists around the world.

Your Right to Anonymity

Article 12 of The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”

Your right to anonymity means you can have free will over surfing the internet under any connection, whether it be yours or a fake portal. Anyone is allowed to do this as well, and already a lot of people do so. Primarily you would think that only intruders and people trying to hide something would want to have a right to anonymity but since times are changing and more people are using the internet for online purchases and things it’s essential to know your information is kept private.

Now more and more people are hiding their IP addresses and using Proxies to surf the web, and it’s your right to do so as well. Everyone from homeowners to politicians have their reasons for wanting to keep anonymous while surfing the internet, and it’s their right to do so. With your private details all over your computer, you need to make sure you are prepared to protect yourself.

TOR is not illegal

The very nature of this post is to open readers’ eye to an existing technology geared toward people who desperately look for a way to anonymize their online activity, to work around some local internet censorship that they may have. By the way, at this time of writing, and according to TOR’s FAQ, “Tor is not illegal anywhere in the world, so using Tor by itself is fine.”

What is TOR?

So what is TOR: in fact, it is a kind of “peer-to-peer” concept but used for security purposes. It is a distributed network and an anonymous network. It is particularly helpful to people who don’t want their Internet traffic to be tracked since the packets are distributed over the whole TOR network. To quote TOR’s website, “The idea is similar to using a twisty, hard-to-follow route to throw off somebody who is tailing you — and then periodically erasing your footprints.”

How TOR works?

Let us first explain (roughly) how TOR network works. Before we start, you need to know how information gets in and out your computer. Let say you want to open a website “X.” In the typical case request for that would go from your computer to your ISP server and then directly (or almost instantly but in an entirely unencrypted and traceable way) to this website.

It is why your ISP knows exactly what you do on the internet; this is any government agency will know where and when you were connected. Furthermore, by checking data on those computers, you were connected, they will know what you did. Also, if you (for example with the use of P2P network) will connect to a “hoax server,” these are set up by different agencies with parts of software or movies for you to download to trace your IP.

So, you think you are just downloading a film (in P2P your computer connects to many different machines without your control) while in reality, you download a movie and also you sand data to those you don’t want to know about it.

What can you do with TOR?

So instead of rewriting a summary of what can be done with TOR service, I’d instead link you to the necessary materials, then you take whatever fits your needs.

Let’s say that you want to organize a secret online meeting so secure that even the participants can’t yet be tracked. You may want to consider establishing a “Rendez-Vous” point within the TOR network via their hidden services.

Be careful, though, as it is the case with other security packages, there are some warnings you need to be aware of. Check them here.

The good thing about joining the TOR network is that it is available for multiple platforms (Linux, Mac, Windows, …), if you want to give it a try, you may want to check the installation guides.

How to use TOR

The first step is to download Tor.

Now, we will tell you how that changes with the use of TOR (and VPN). In this case, information/request from your computer goes to your ISP server and then from there to the first node of TOR network (TOR client downloads a list of nodes/computer from TOR directory. You may even select the exit node.). That information flows between those nodes (selection of those servers always happens at random and they only “know” about nearest servers to them – not the whole route).

After going through a few of those computers (this is one of the reasons TOR is always slower than VPN) finally goes to the destination server with the website “X.” Every few minutes and every time you send new request path between you and destination changes at random and because of that (unless you are specifically targeted, and someone has lots of resources) you are practically invisible on the internet.

As we have said, because of this architecture of the TOR network, it is hard to get decent Internet connection speeds. If you watch a movie for 5 minutes, it can be great, but then route changes and your stream becomes unwatchable.

Tor Pros and Cons

Pros

• It’s completely free;
• Encrypts all traffic (incoming and outgoing) between his nodes;
• It is virtually unbeatable (if properly configured);
• There are plenty of applications that are based on TOR technology and make its use more comfortable, including a Tor browser;
• It hides your public IP address to browse the web anonymously.

Cons

• The configuration is not trivial;
• The performance is unpredictable as it depends on routes between the Tor network nodes;
• Not suitable for P2P applications such as Torrent (however, you may use a VPN for downloading torrents);
• It only protects applications that are configured to work through Tor. No automatic configuration.
• As written on Tor’s Downloading page: “While Tor blocks attackers on your local network from discovering or influencing your destination, it opens new risks: malicious or misconfigured Tor exit nodes can send you the wrong page, or even send you embedded Java applets disguised as domains you trust.”

TOR vs. VPN

Before we tell you the latest news regarding TOR anonymity, let us tell you a few words about VPN. As in the example above in the case of VPN service. Request from your computer gets encrypted, then goes to through ISP server (but since data you send and receive are as we said encrypted ISP could not easily see what is inside) to VPN server and from there to the destination.

It means that only your VPN provider holds all the data about you and your traffic. For the average, Joe VPN seems like a much better solution. As long as you do not do something considered (internationally) illegal, like child pornography, terrorism, etc. your VPN provider will never reveal your data (in many cases they do not even hold those data logs if local legislation does not require that). So, if you want to surf the web (use p3p/torrents), stream movies that are usually unavailable for you VPN should be the product of choice.

Lately, several VPN providers have exposed a mixt TOR and VPN solution called “Tor over VPN” or “Onion over VPN” that connects to the Tor network via a VPN server. This approach has several advantages.

Tor Project awarded for the role in Middle East Revolutions

Tor Project awarded! Tor project has received recognition from the Free Software Foundation as it helped the protesters and revolutionists in the Middle East and North Africa. The award called Award for Projects of Social Benefit highlights the software as a project which significantly benefited the society by collaborating and accomplishing a task of social importance.

This excellent free software, as well as other online anonymity tools, has changed the lives of millions of people who were previously living under the fear and suppression of the dictators. Governments in countries from North African and the Middle East tried to censor online applications like Twitter and Facebook, and for a while, they succeeded in doing so. But the Tor project was successfully used to bypass the blocks to let the revolutions continue and take a definite shape.

The latest news involving TOR anonymity

OK, now since we are past the differences between TOR, VPN, and regular connection to the internet we can tell you about the latest news involving TOR.

French scientists claim they have found a solution to trace user in the TOR network. Here is what they did. They build a small TOR network and then, using holes in the TOR software they have prepared a virus. The virus had infected 1/3 of TOR nodes. Remaining TOR servers were attacked using a different method for them to disconnect them from the network. Once they started to switch off, more and more information were send through still working nodes, most of them which were already infected with a virus. The primary field of this virus activity was to break data encryption.

This allowed them to create a map of the whole TOR network and method they used will aloe form much quicker identification of users using TOR servers. Here you can read TOR comment in this regard.

Since it is impossible to know exactly where the truth lies, we advise you to take extra precautions.

Do not use Tor servers with BitTorrent

Disturbing news regarding the “bombardment” of Tor servers with DMCA notices was published by TorrentFreak.com some time ago. The story is essential as may lead (at some point) to the service shut down. BitTorrent and Tor? Not the best idea.

For those that want to be protected while downloading with BitTorrent, there are plenty of solutions, like VPN services and proxies (Recommended reading: Tips to torrent safely.). The benefit of such services is that they allow users to browse and download anonymously at full speeds. The downside is that users have to pay a monthly fee (usually between $5 and $15) for these premium services.

BitTorrent and Tor?

To avoid this fee, many BitTorrent users anonymize their traffic with Tor. It is a big problem. Although one BitTorrent user taking this option is unlikely to prove problematic, a few thousand can cause some severe damage. Tor servers are also being monitored and notified by copyright holders (the DMCA notices) for facilitating “infringing” transfers.

The conclusion is that those who value anti-censorship tools should not abuse Tor by running their BitTorrent traffic over it. Aside from the fact that torrent traffic slows down the network, the massive amount of DMCA notices may lead to servers being disconnected and, finally, Tor would no longer be available to the people who it was built for.

Can you trust Tor’s security?

According to a report on Heise Online, the German IT security portal, two of the seven directory authority servers (moria1 and gabelmoo) that the Tor Project uses to run its anonymous browsing service have been compromised, along with a new server that the project uses to host metrics and graphs (metrics.torproject.org).

Tor team discovered the attack in early January and are advising users to upgrade to version 0.2.1.22 or 0.2.2.7-alpha of the client software – which acts as an interface between the custom version of Mozilla that the project recommends and the internet.

They said that there is no risk that the attackers could have matched Tor users to their browsing habits.

“By design, Tor requires a majority of directory authorities (four in this case) to generate a consensus; and like other relays in the Tor network, directory authorities don’t know enough to match a user and traffic or destination,” Roger Dingledine, the original developer of the Tor Project wrote in an email.

Unconfirmed indications suggest that the two servers were hacked to gain access to the high anonymous bandwidth they offered, but it is also possible that the goal was to set up some SSH keys and use the servers to launch other attacks.

Here is what Roger Dingledine says the Tor security: “We’ve taken steps to fix the weaknesses identified and to harden our systems further. Tor has a track record of openness and transparency, with its source code and specifications and also with its operations. Moreover, we’re disclosing breaches such as this so you can monitor our status. You shouldn’t assume those who don’t disclose security breaches never have any!”

Tor alternative – I2P Darknet

An alternative to Tor is the I2P Darknet network. It works similarly to Tor, but it is considered better when it comes to anonymizing your online presence, downloading torrents, and sending secure email. In the same time, Tor is an excellent tool for bypassing geo-restrictions.

To sum up

This blog is about “online anonymity guide,” and I thought TOR is in line with what we’re trying to show our users here. Indeed, TOR is an excellent anonymizer for online activists. We’d love to hear from you how you’d use TOR services for anonymizing your internet activity.

Share your views in the comment section.

Tor can be very useful when it comes to access country-restricted websites. I am going to show how to configure Tor to mask your point of origin as though it is coming from a Tor specific country.

How does Tor work?

Tor uses a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world and picks a random path between you and the destination server/site. The good news is that the exit node (the one that is visible by the destination server) can be specified. Such that you can specify a certain location for your visible IP address.

How to use Vidalia

For this, you can use Vidalia’s configuration. Here is how to do it.

Step 1. Install Vidalia bundle, if you don’t have it yet.
Step 2. Go to this page for a complete list of all available nodes. When selecting your node to take a look at country, speed and node type. You should choose only high-speed exit nodes.

Step 3. Once you’ve found an exit node from the right country, click on it to go to the node’s details page.

Step 4. Copy the fingerprint, eliminate all spaces and add a $ mark in front. For the above fingerprint we have “$9D4D995AA745A3CAA6276AFAD505D3E4097AA075”.

Step 5. Go to Vidalia Control Panel (double-click on Tor icon in the icon tray)

Step 6. Go Vidalia’s Advanced settings tab and see the path to your Tor Configuration File. This is where we’re going to specify our exit nodes.

Step 7. Open the configuration file in Notepad and at the top of this file, paste the following two lines, with fingerprint1, fingerprint2, and fingerprint3 substituted by the fingerprint code(s) from Step 4.

ExitNodes fingerprint1, fingerprint2, fingerprint3
StrictExitNodes 1

Step 8. After the restart, Tor will try to access one of those servers as an exit node.

You have successfully set up Tor specific country and you can now access Hulu from Europe, BBC iPlayer from the outside UK, or play games that weren’t available in your region.

P.S. If TOR does not work for you, then check a VPN service like HideMyAss, HideIpVPN or ibVPN.

The most used method to get access to UK restricted websites like BBC iPlayer or ITV is by using UK VPN services. If you can not afford to get a VPN account here is some good news: WebTvUnleashed has built a Tor package that will get the job done nicely. And it is completely free. Learn how to watch iPlayer without VPN.

The idea is simple and effective: it uses the Tor project, Firefox Portable, FoxyProxy and a Flash Player Plug-in bundled in a compact package that is easy to run and it does not need any configuration. It is completely portable, you can install it on a USB drive and take it anywhere you want. You can even run it from your workplace or school.

What can you do with the WebTvUnleashed package

With the WebTvUnleashed package you can:

• Watch the BBC iPlayer outside the UK
• Access the ITV Player outside the UK
• Unblock Demand Five outside the UK
• Watch the BBC News 24 Channel Live outside the UK

How to install the WebTvUnleashed package

In order to install is you need to download the zip file from here: Download ‘Tor UK Catchup TV Package Beta V0.3’. Then unzip it, open the folder ‘Tor UK Catchup TV Package Beta V0.3’ and click the ‘Start Tor UK Catchup TV’ executable.

A Firefox browser will show up with predefined bookmarks that you can use to easily access BBC iPlayer, Demand Five, ITV Player.

Next, click on Tor row:

Take a look at the existing URL patterns and then add a new pattern by clicking the Add New Pattern button.

Important! I have tested this solution for TvCatchUp, but, unfortunately, it didn’t work.

Anyway, enjoy and many thanks to WebTvUnleashed admin!

Have you been able to watch iPlayer without VPN? How do you get your UK IP address? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

P.S. If this workaround does not work for you may try using a VPN service with UK servers like HideMyAss, ibVPN, NordVPN, PrivateInternetAccess or IPVanish.

Tor is one of the top technologies when it comes to anonymity. Due to its architecture, Tor provides (almost) total privacy. And the best thing is that it’s free! Not only by individual users but also by third-party tools. Torfox is one of these applications that use Tor to provide anonymous browsing.

Torfox is, as described on the home site, a simple secure portable open source browser based on The Tor Project and Mozilla Foundation technologies. In short: an anonymous browser which allows users to browse web pages hiding their IP address and other parameters which may be used to identify user data.

The installation is very simple: go to Tor fox site, download the file (.exe, .zip or .sha1), install it and you are ready to browse anonymously. Below are screenshots of this nice hide IP tool.

Torfox in action

Anonymous surfing with ZERO configuration:

Different branding doesn’t affect original Firefox installs:

The browser never connects directly to the internet:

Pros and Cons of Torfox

Torfox has the same pros and cons as Tor has plus several more:

Pros

• It’s free!
• It does change your IP address.
• Very easy to use.
• Familiar look as it is based on Firefox.
• Can be also downloaded as a ZIP file and extracted to a USB drive for a portable version that works anywhere without installation.

Cons

• Quite slow.
• You can’t choose the location (country) of the IP address.

Conclusion

This anonymous browser looks like a tool that still needs some work done and it will probably be fully functional after a few more months. But, as it is free and it comes from a reliable source, it worth trying.

Have you downloaded it and used it? What do you think of it?

One of the first countries in the world where websites were forbidden by the Government was China. Soon Iran and now, Russia joined in these ranks, and the authorities have implemented the censure of various websites from the net in Russia. Russian citizens, therefore, have shown, like their Chinese counterparts, an increased attraction towards the more anonymous and secure Virtual Private Networks, to keep potent their link to the world in the form of their favorite websites.

Livejournal versus Tor: Livejournal blocks Tor

However, this access to forbidden content online seems to have its own limitations in Russia. This is concerning the latest incident where Livejournal, the popular blogging platform in Russia, blocked Tor, an anonymous browsing tool from access to its online bloggers. Livejournal is owned by SUP, a Russian media company. Tor is supposed to be a free Open Network which allows its users to get access to forbidden websites, as a ‘defence against the network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy.’

Politics plays an important role here. Tor was a vital tool during the recent wave of protests in Iran in June 2009. It helped Iranian netizens with anonymous access to various prohibited websites.

Another side of the story

There is another side to the story. The problem of spammers was also a primary concern which led to the fight against anonymous web access. As the Tor system was one of the anonymizers, it was blocked along with several other such systems.

When looking at both ends, it is difficult to decide which is the lesser of the two evils: the curbing of personal freedom and freedom of choice of the netizens to decide which websites they can have access to seems like a form of tyranny, but on the other hand are genuine concerns of the government and anti-spamming organizations. Of course, criminal activity and cybercrime can breed freely in anonymity, but secure Virtual Private Networks also offer security and protection of identity.

World reaction to the Tor ban

Netizens all over the world are rising against the ban of systems like Tor. According to them, the banning of web content has left the netizens with no other choice than to resort to anonymity as a method of self-protection. By not going anonymous, they will risk being charged with breaking the rules, and by not surfing their preferred websites, they risk being stripped of their freedom of choice and personal freedom. It is a tough cookie, indeed.

Of course, officials at both ends of the line are insisting that there is no place or politics in the ban on Tor. ‘Technical Difficulties’ is the preferred term used to explain away these instances. This is a battle which seems to have only begun, albeit it does have global connotations.

This article briefly presents I2P Darknet and explains why it is a good option for hiding your IP address while sending an email or downloading torrents.

What is I2P?

I2P is a vast anonymizing network, similar to Tor, with some distinct differences. The I2P network is often used as the backbone of a part of the Darknet (or Dark Web). The Dark Web is defined as a small portion of the Internet that has been intentionally hidden and is inaccessible through standard web browsers.

The Invisible Internet Project (I2P) was launched in 2003 as an anonymizing network focused on securing the internal connections between users. By connecting to the I2P a device or computer becomes part of a distributed and decentralized network that allows secure and anonymous communications.

As a side effect, I2P bypasses filters and governmental restrictions.

How does it work?

I2P is designed such that users can communicate with each other anonymously, meaning that both sender and recipient are unidentifiable to each other as well as to third parties.

The communication is message-oriented. Each message is encrypted and passed through several network nodes from the source to the destination.

The I2P Darknet network uses a significant number of cryptographic techniques and algorithms, including 2048bit ElGamal encryption and 256bit AES in CBC mode with PKCS#5 padding. This is important for the security and anonymity of the messages sent through the network. As they are passed through several nodes, they need to be strongly encrypted.

What can you do with I2P?

This is probably the thing you are most interested in. Yes, it may hide your IP address while browsing the Internet, but there are other more specific tasks you may perform.

Using the I2PTunnel application, it is possible to stream TCP/IP applications over I2P, such as SSH, IRC, a squid proxy, and even streaming audio. Most people do not use I2P directly. The I2P enabled apps are the way to go.

You may find below the most common uses for the I2P network.

Email/Messaging – This is the main reason for building I2P: sending messages in total privacy and anonymity. There are a few messaging services on I2P. The built-in mail application lets you email the regular internet to, and from I2P.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) – The I2P is the perfect manifestation of the freedom of speech. If you end up using I2P, you should check out the IRC.

Eepsites – Eepsites are websites hosted on the I2P network, whose operators can be anonymous. Like hidden services, these sites cannot be accessed from outside the I2P network. Their web addresses are actually readable, with the domain of .i2p at the end.

Torrents – I2P has the Postman Tracker and I2PSnark. The tracker is essentially the Pirate Bay, and I2PSnark is essentially uTorrent. By using I2P, torrenting is secure and anonymous.

How to install I2P? I2P Tutorial.

1. The first step is to download and install Java as I2P is written in the Java programming language. It is possible that you already have this on your computer, but if not, then download the latest version and install it.

2. Next, download the I2P installer. A console window will open. It shows the installation log.

3. A browser window will open on the I2P Router Console page to let you know that you have connected successfully to the IP2 network. You may initially have to wait a few minutes while the software finds peers and connects tunnels to them.

4. Next, the Router Console will show that you are fully connected.

5. Then, you now need to configure your browser to connect through I2P. You can do it in any browser, but you should probably go for Firefox or install Tor Browser. In Firefox, you may try a proxy configuration add-on, like FoxyProxy, or proceed with the manual setup:

• Go to Firefox -> Options -> Advanced tab -> Network tab -> Connection Settings
• Check the Manual proxy configuration box and enter the following values: HTTP Proxy: 127.0.0.1, Port: 4444. Also add localhost, 127.0.0.1 to the No Proxy for the box.

6. Welcome to the I2P darknet! You may now access the Dark Web and I2P websites that have the .i2p suffix. Enter the address of any eepSite. A good place to start finding interesting eepSites is the eepsite.com search engine.

A lot more info (including info on configuring firewall ports) is available on the I2P Darknet site.

I2P vs. Tor

Is I2P better than Tor? What are the differences between the two networks? Let’s find out.

They both are anonymity tools, capable of hiding your public IP address. On both I2P and Tor users connect to each other using peer-to-peer encrypted tunnels. That is the basic principle, but there are some key technical differences:

• I2P is able to put multiple messages into one encrypted packet (Garlic routing), making it harder for an outside observer to find out what’s going on.
• Unlike the Tor network, which uses a centralized directory to manage the network, I2P uses a distributed peer-to-peer model.
• I2P uses packet switching instead of Tor’s circuit switching, which means transparent load balancing of messages across multiple peers.
• Unlike Tor, I2P tunnels are uni-directional, so incoming traffic and outgoing traffic are completely separate, which improves anonymity.
• I2Ps uses their own API rather than SOCKS which is used by the Tor network. This helps to make I2P more secure than Tor.
• I2P is much faster than using Tor, more secure, and more robust.

Thus, we may say that, yes, I2P is better than Tor when it comes to anonymizing your online presence, downloading torrents and sending secure emails. At the same time, Tor is an excellent tool for bypassing geo-restrictions.

What do you think about I2P Darknet? Do you use it? What about Tor? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

How Tor Works

A user of the Tor network runs a proxy server on his computer. Internet-facing software can then access Tor through a SOCKS interface. Once inside a Tor network, the traffic is sent from router to router, the Tor software periodically negotiating a virtual circuit through the Tor network, ultimately reaching an exit node at which point the cleartext packet is forwarded on to its original destination.

Viewed from the destination, the traffic appears to originate at the Tor exit node The Onion Router (Tor) is a free software implementation of second-generation onion routing – a system which claims to enable its users to communicate anonymously on the Internet. [Via Wikipedia]

The best Tor-Based Tools

To connect to Tor network easily you need to use an application that performs most of the configuration steps. Here are the best tools that use Tor network to hide your IP address and achieve online anonymity:

1. Vidalia Tor Bundle

Vidalia is a cross-platform controller GUI for the Tor software. Vidalia runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux or other Unix variants using the X11 window system.

>> Vidalia Tor Download

2. OperaTor – Opera + Tor

OperaTor is a portable software bundle which allows you to browse the web anonymously. It combines the power of the Opera Browser, Tor, and Polipo. With OperaTor no data will be stored at the computer you plugged your portable memory into.

>> OperaTor Download

3. TorFox – The Anonymous Browser

Torfox is a simple secure portable open-source browser based on The Tor Project and Mozilla Foundation technologies: an anonymous browser which allows users to browse web pages hiding their IP address and other parameters which may be used to identify user data.

>> TorFox Download

4. Xero Bank Browser

xB Browser is a free and open-source anonymous web browser that can be used to securely and anonymously surf the internet, and bypass firewalls and website censorship.

The main advantage compared to other anonymous web browsers is that the xB Browser requires no configuration or technical knowledge in order to achieve anonymity. xB Browser is open-source so you can feel safe knowing what goes into our code. Additionally, it is even portable on a USB stick so you can take it to work, school, or on vacation.

>> xB Browser Download

5. Portable Tor

PortableTor allows you to connect to the Tor anonymous internet system from any computer with your flash or thumb drive. This allows you to browse the internet anonymously from public locations, such as internet hotspots, library, or school computers, and public terminals.

PortableTor has all of the features as the regular Tor, except without actually installing the application.

>> Portable Tor Download

6. Incognito

Incognito is an open source LiveDistro based on Gentoo Linux assisting you to securely and anonymously use the Internet almost anywhere you go, e.g. your home, work, university, favorite Internet café or local library.

Incognito can be used from either a CD or a USB drive and has several Internet applications (Web browser, IRC client, Mail client, Instant messenger, etc.) pre-configured with security in mind, and all Internet traffic will be anonymized.

>> Incognito Download

7. Tor Browser Bundle

The Tor Browser Bundle lets you use Tor on Windows without needing to install any software. It can run off a USB flash drive, comes with a pre-configured web browser and is self-contained. The Tor IM Browser Bundle additionally allows instant messaging and chat over Tor. If you would prefer to use your existing web browser, install Tor permanently.

>> Tor Browser Bundle Download

8. TorButton

Torbutton is a Firefox add-on that provides a button to securely and easily enable or disable the browser’s use of Tor. It is currently the only addon that will safely manage your Tor browsing to prevent IP address leakage, cookie leakage, and general privacy attacks.

>> TorButton Download

9. FoxTor

FoxTor is a Firefox add-on that provides an easy and convenient way to browse the web using the anonymous and encrypted TOR network. This offers greater privacy compared to regular proxy services or extensions.

>> FoxTor Download

10. TorChat

TorChat is a peer to peer instant messenger with a completely decentralized design, built on top of Tor’s location hidden services, giving you extremely strong anonymity while being very easy to use without the need to install or configure anything.

>> TorChat Download

11. Torcap

Torcap is a tool that allows any network application to connect through Tor, even if the overlying application doesn’t support SOCKS. Torcap works by injecting a DLL into every process running under the current user. This DLL then hooks Winsock API to intercept DNS lookups and TCP/IP connections.

>> Torcap Download

What do you think of our list of the best Tor-based tools? Do you know other good Tor tools?

Share them with us!

Make sure you also read: Pros and Cons of Using Tor.

This post presents RiccoVPN, an interesting concept and a different approach to VPN. It is implementing an encrypted P2P network instead of relying on a VPN gateway. Keep reading for more details.

Secure your Internet connection – different options

Before talking about RiccoVPN let’s see the options you have when it comes to anonymizing and securing your Internet connection. Depending on what you want to achieve, you can go for one solution or another. But let’s first summarize the options:

• You can either use some proxy gateways that will mask your actual IP address and use its own address. This is the most challenging solution to find as the list of proxies change so often.
• You can also use VPN servers. With such a solution, you can choose the country where you want to land. Those solutions are especially very efficient for overcoming geolocation-limited services like Hulu, unblock BBC iPlayer, …
• Then, for those who want some “random/parallel” network that will hide them: Tor is one solution.
• For those who are more into browser-based solutions, you can find out add-ons that will allow you to achieve some kind of anonymity too.

Except for Tor, most of those solutions expect you to connect you to one gateway; then this gateway will “mask” your connection before forwarding your request to any internet server that you want to see.

RiccoVPN by PrivacyProtector

As I browsed the internet, I stumbled on one concept that seemed interesting (at least at first approach), it is called RiccoVPN, and it is published by PrivacyProtector.

So I checked on their website and found out that they provide a privacy solution that requires you to install their proprietary client. What popped to my eyes is that it comes with a FREE solution that is called RiccoVPN FREE. While it is expected to be a “bait” so that a potential user jumps into the paid version, the features can be of use for standard things like connecting from a public Wi-Fi, from hotels or Airport. The caveat is that the bandwidth is limited to 512 kbps and you can’t pretend to be somewhere else: though the free version isn’t a solution for bypassing geolocation-limited services.

RiccoVPN features

As one would expect, most of the argument is stated in a way that you are pushed to opt for the RiccoVPN Plus solution instead of staying with the free solution. So I checked the Plus option and found out that RiccoVPN is implementing an encrypted P2P network instead of relying on a VPN gateway.

The idea is innovative, but yet has to prove how effective it is. By leveraging on P2P network, internet connections are harder to track indeed (there’s no VPN gateway in the scheme). But since every user in the network is expected to run the RiccoVPN client, I would suspect that if I run the RiccoVPN client on my computer, then it would mean that my computer would also be used for encrypting other people’s traffic.

Conclusion

While this article isn’t a recommendation, I think there’s some potential in that no-gateway concept. With SOPA-like bills, there’s a tendency to find some technical solutions that won’t allow you to be tracked from your ISP or VPN provider. From the “commercial ad,” RiccoVPN claims that “we do not need to know you.”

What do you think of that approach? Do you think it is something that you would try?

The IP address – our digital fingerprint

Every time we log onto the web we leave behind a digital fingerprint – our IP address. IP addresses can be traced back to a physical location and to the specific computer. And if somebody knows where your computer is, invasion of your privacy takes a little while to follow.

Identity thefts, invasion by spyware, attacks by cyber-criminals are just some of the real dangers. Using simple IP tracing tools (sniffers) someone can exploit vulnerabilities and hack into your computer. Very commonly, IP addresses are tracked and logged along with your surfing activities to deliver targeted ads to your browser or even spam mail to your inbox. In an extreme case scenario, your passwords are hacked through.

All the above dangers have a solution through anonymous surfing. But hey, didn’t I say that it’s a myth? Well, it is usually, but a few tools to make it possible. The core for most of the anonymous browsing is the Tor network. Also called Onion routing, the technology uses a series of encrypted network relays around the world to protect your traffic from prying eyes. Hence, the likeness with an onion.

Portable Anonymous Browsers

Portable anonymous browsers lend the anytime-anywhere advantage. Carry it around on your USB Drive and browsing remains traceless.  Here are four browsers for anonymous browsing.

Note: You can test the browsers by going to a site like XMyIP and taking a look at the alien IP addresses it returns.

OperaTor

Combine Opera, the distributed network routes courtesy of the Tor Network and a web proxy called Polipo to get the portable OperaTOR. The portable browser provides total anonymity from IP tracking as the proxy network conceals your true computer address. Also, all history and cookies get wiped out as soon as the browser closes. But again anonymity comes at the cost of speed, so be prepared for some slow speeds as the traffic gets routed through the Tor network.

According to the website, the only protocols which OperaTor supports are HTTP and HTTPS, so if you want to stay anonymous you should avoid using other Opera features (e.g. Java, JavaScript, BitTorrent, integrated e-mail and IRC clients).

OperaTor (ver. 3.5) is a freeware portable browser and comes in a 10MB sized zipped package. Unzip and run it from your USB drive. Also, go through the welcome information the first time the browser loads.

OperaTor is a 10MB download and runs on Windows (all versions).

xB Browser

The XeroBank browser was previously known as TorPark. It runs using the Firefox engine. The free version uses the public Tor network to provide anonymity. Users can add XeroBank’s own anonymous proxy servers for additional protection but at a cost. The xB Browser is touted to be the world’s most popular anonymous browser.

The free and open source XeroBank installer is a 10MB download and contains the xB Browser, xB VPN (Virtual Private Network) and xB Mail (anonymous mail). xB Browser is portable and can be carried around on a USB drive.

Just like OperaTor, xB Browser does not leave any trace of your browsing activities. xB Browser is at its heart, a Firefox browser with a few extra security add-ons. You can switch your user agent, set AdBlocks, quickly switch to another language and flush the Tor circuit with a button click. The flush Tor circuit button puts you on a new set of Tor servers.

Browsing on the Tor network is slower than in an open network. The one gap I could see was that despite being a Firefox browser at the core does not provide an easy way to import bookmarks from your default Firefox browser.

xB Browser is a 10.2MB download and runs on Windows (all versions).

TorFox

TorFox is a very simple implementation of Tor and Mozilla Firefox. So, you have in your hands a simple secure portable open-source browser. You can download the browser as an EXE or a Zip file and carry it around on your USB Flash drive. The browser comes without any frills and it’s, in my opinion, the simplest of all the Tor browser apps.

Torfox (ver.3.0.11) is a 12MB download and runs on Windows (all versions).

Tor Browser Bundle

The Tor Browser Bundle is a built around the Tor software tool, a Tor front-end from Vidalia, the Polipo web proxy and a configured version of portable Firefox. It allows the user to use Tor without the need to install anything. It has all the pros and cons of the Tor Network and functionally is very similar to OperaTor.

Tor Browser Bundle is a 16MB download and runs on Windows (all versions).

The four tools above are very similar in that they are combos of the Tor public network and a portable browser. It’s only on the web that you have to pay to be anonymous. With these free portable anonymous browsers, anonymity could be finally yours without a cost.

Are you using portable anonymous browsers? Which one do you recommend? Let us know in the comments below.