Want Tor to really work?
You need to change some of your habits, as some things won't work exactly as you are used to.
Be smart and learn more. Understand what Tor does and does not offer. This list of pitfalls isn't complete, and we need your help identifying and documenting all the issues.
If you face any problem in this post please let me know your problem. To inform your problem you can leave a comment below. And if you like my post please click the Facebook like button or spread this post by clicking the Twitter, Facebook etc. icons below. Because, it will be a great support for me.
You need to change some of your habits, as some things won't work exactly as you are used to.
- Use the Tor Browser
Tor does not protect all of your computer's Internet traffic when you
run it. Tor only protects your applications that are properly configured
to send their Internet traffic through Tor. To avoid problems with
Tor configuration, we strongly recommend you use the Tor Browser Bundle. It is pre-configured to
protect your privacy and anonymity on the web as long as you're browsing
with the Tor Browser itself. Almost any other web browser configuration
is likely to be unsafe to use with Tor.
- Don't enable or install browser plugins
The Tor Browser will block browser plugins such as Flash, RealPlayer,
Quicktime, and others: they can be manipulated into revealing your IP
address. Similarly, we do not recommend installing additional addons or
plugins into the Tor Browser, as these may bypass Tor or otherwise harm
your anonymity and privacy. The lack of plugins means that Youtube videos
are blocked by default, but Youtube does provide an experimental opt-in
feature
that works for some videos.
- Use HTTPS versions of websites
Tor will encrypt your traffic to
and within the Tor network, but the encryption of your traffic to
the final destination website depends upon on that website. To help
ensure private encryption to websites, the Tor Browser Bundle includes
HTTPS Everywhere
to force the use of HTTPS encryption with major websites that
support it. However, you should still watch the browser URL bar to
ensure that websites you provide sensitive information to display a blue
or green URL bar button, include https:// in the URL, and
display the
proper expected name for the website.
- Don't open documents downloaded through Tor while online
The Tor Browser will warn you before automatically opening
documents that are handled by external applications. DO NOT
IGNORE THIS WARNING. You should be very careful when downloading
documents via Tor (especially DOC and PDF files) as these documents
can contain Internet resources that will be downloaded outside of
Tor by the application that opens them. This will reveal your non-Tor
IP address. If you must work with DOC and/or PDF files, we strongly
recommend either using a disconnected computer, downloading the free VirtualBox and using it with a virtual machine image with networking
disabled, or using Tails.
Under no circumstances is it safe to use BitTorrent
and Tor together, however.
- Use bridges and/or find company
Tor tries to prevent attackers from learning what destination websites
you connect to. However, by default, it does not prevent somebody
watching your Internet traffic from learning that you're using Tor. If
this matters to you, you can reduce this risk by configuring Tor to use a
Tor bridge relay rather than connecting
directly to the public Tor network. Ultimately the best protection is
a social approach: the more Tor users there are near you and the more
diverse their interests, the less
dangerous it will be that you are one of them. Convince other people to
use Tor, too!
Be smart and learn more. Understand what Tor does and does not offer. This list of pitfalls isn't complete, and we need your help identifying and documenting all the issues.
If you face any problem in this post please let me know your problem. To inform your problem you can leave a comment below. And if you like my post please click the Facebook like button or spread this post by clicking the Twitter, Facebook etc. icons below. Because, it will be a great support for me.
