Tor, short for The Onion Router, is a privacy-enhancing network that significantly increases the confidentiality of your web browsing activities. By encrypting your internet data into multiple layers and directing it through a trio of relay points, Tor ensures that each node only recognizes its direct link in the chain of transmission.
Consequently, the entrance node remains unaware of your final online destination, while the concluding node is oblivious to the origin of the information. Unlike standard browsers that provide ‘private’ or ‘Incognito’ modes, which fail to conceal your surfing history from internet service providers, Tor stands apart by safeguarding your privacy from such exposure. This doesn’t mean we can’t do even better. Here are Tor browser security tips that will help shift the browser’s already skewed security balance into even stronger security.
Guide to Tor Browser Security: Practical Tips
1 Take care of Personal Information
Common pitfalls arise when individuals intertwine their personal details with Tor-related endeavors. Activities to be particularly cautious of include accessing personal emails, reusing familiar usernames, and transacting with traceable debit or credit cards while forgoing the adoption of an anonymous identity.
For optimal use of Tor, it is crucial to cultivate and consistently adhere to an alternate persona. Utilize email services provided by Tor or opt for disposable email options for activities where persistent access isn’t a necessity. Remember, disposable email addresses possess a transient nature and will eventually be purged.
2 Set Your Security Level
The Tor Browser is engineered with a tri-layered shield for your digital privacy. To tweak these settings, click the guard icon by the address bar and select “Advanced Security Settings.”
Choose your shield strength:
- Standard: It’s a regular browsing experience, no different from what you’re used to.
- Safer (Recommended): Tightens security by turning off JavaScript on not-secure sites, keeping some fonts and math symbols at bay, and halting audio and video from playing straight away.
- Safest: Dials the security up to the max where only simple sites function smoothly.
Obviously, a safe Tor browser in Standard mode will not use all its functionality to protect you. In maximum protection mode, comfort is sacrificed. Generally speaking, is Tor browser safe, then the answer is yes. Just read the research from the guys at VeePN.
3 Choose a Privacy-Friendly Search Engine
Are you aware of the fact that your online activities are monitored by Google? Using Tor might seem like a safe option, but it’s ineffective if you continue to utilize search engines that catalog your searches.
Utilizing the Tor Browser becomes counterintuitive if you’re inadvertently surrendering your personal information once more. It’s advisable to opt for search engines that respect your privacy instead. DuckDuckGo is an excellent choice that doesn’t track its users, and it’s the preset option in the Tor Browser. Alternatively, you could consider Surfshark’s Clean Web feature for secure browsing.
4 Use Tor over a VPN
Enhancing your digital privacy is paramount, and there are compelling reasons why pairing a VPN with the Tor browser bolsters your online anonymity:
- A VPN’s encryption is your shield, concealing your online activities, including the use of the Tor Browser. You can install a VPN for Chrome now here and get even better tracking protection than the Tor Browser offers. But you don’t have to choose, because you can install a VPN application and use the Tor Browser.
- Should the Tor entry node be vulnerable, a VPN serves as an invisible cloak for your IP address, safeguarding your connection’s initial point.
- Although the Tor Project advises against ad-blocking extensions to maintain privacy integrity, some VPNs effectively eliminate numerous ads right at their origin, maintaining a clutter-free and discreet browsing experience.
5 Disable Java and Flash
Operating interactive content while using Tor presents significant safety concerns. Technologies such as Adobe Flash, QuickTime, ActiveX, Java, and JavaScript operate with the permissions granted by your user account, posing a potential threat to your personal information by enabling access to and distribution of your data.
Among these, JavaScript stands out as the most perilous. As a ubiquitous scripting language for web browsers, it’s capable of bypassing proxy settings and facilitating user tracking across different sites. Moreover, such applications might retain cookies and additional data within the Tor browser, which can prove challenging to locate and expunge. For an enhanced layer of privacy and protection, it’s advisable to disable these features entirely.
6 Regularly Delete Cookies
Tor provides added privacy by sending your internet traffic through multiple nodes, disrupting any potential traffic analysis. However, elements like cookies and scripts can still monitor your online movements. When enough of these digital clues accumulate, they could potentially reveal who you are.
To safeguard your anonymity while using Tor, it’s important to actively manage cookies and website data. Either do this manually or install a browser extension to handle it for you. This practice is essential for maintaining your Tor-provided privacy shield.
Conclusion
How to protect privacy and is it necessary to do this when using the Tor Browser? You probably already know the answer. Yes, Tor Browser takes a significant step forward in security, but not in its basic version. Ideally, you need to adjust your browser settings, supplement its protection with a VPN application, and adhere to the basic rules of digital hygiene.
