What is the Tor browser?

Tor (formerly known as Onion Router) is free software that serves to provide online anonymity.

The main implementation of Tor is written in the programming language C and consists of approximately 146,000 lines of source code.

In its work, Tor browser directs Internet traffic through a free, worldwide network of more than three thousand links to hide the user's location and prevent any tracking on the network or traffic analysis. Using Tor makes it very difficult to track Internet activity, including visits to specific sites, sent and received Internet messages and other forms of communication. Tor browser is designed to protect the privacy of users, maintaining their freedom and ability to conduct confidential business.

The initial data, including the destination points, when working through this browser are encrypted several times and sent through a virtual channel, which includes consecutive and randomly selected links. Each link recognizes a "layer" of encryption, which is detected only in the next link. The final link accepts the last layer of encryption and transmits the original data without revealing them or even knowing the sender to the destination. This method reduces the probability of interception of the source data and completely hides the routing. For this reason, when the best browsers are mentioned, Tor takes one of the first places among them.

However, it also has weaknesses. Like all existing networks to ensure anonymity, Tor can not and does not try to protect itself from monitoring traffic on the border of its network. This means that the input and output from the network can be viewed. In addition, Tor browser provides protection against traffic analysis, but it can not prevent traffic recognition.

Despite the above shortcomings, Tor and alternative systems JonDonym (JAP) are considered more robust than their alternative in the face of VPN. Studies to analyze the volumes of the encrypted data stream that passes through VPN, Tor or JonDo systems have shown that the latter two services are much more difficult to analyze.

Despite this, operators of some Internet sites have the ability to prevent connections from Tor nodes, or offer limited functionality to users of this browser. If you touch other free browsers, then obviously, such restrictions no longer exist. For example, it is usually impossible to change data on Wikipedia when using Tor or even using an IP address that uses the Tor output node (this is recognized in connection with the use of the TorBlock extension).

Despite the many illegal and harmful things that some users make when using this service, it has considerable approval for legitimate purposes. According to international data, Tor browser fits into a broader strategy for protecting privacy and anonymity. In recent years, there has been an increase in the popularity of this service, related to the conduct of business in the network and the performance of financial transactions.