The Internet and Web Network has given us the access to enormous amount of information and knowledge and a viable means to communicate. With progress in time and technology, the ways to ingress this knowledge have also drastically expanded. With the presence of various browsing software, it might sometimes become challenging for an individual to maintain privacy while also getting an entry into the enormous space of data, material and connectivity available.
About Tor
Tor (The OnionRouter) is one such software which not only gives you access to the internet but also maintains anonymity. In furtherance, the article will speak about How TOR functions and how to download TOR. The Onion Router started off in 2002 as free software to perpetuate invisibility of the users and makes it difficult for anyone to track the user's activity.
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Onion Routing works on the grounds of encryption and layering, it is because of this layering that the software takes the name of The ‘Onion’ Software. The software encrypts the IP address and transfers the data through various circuits and nods. This focal characteristic of the software is what makes it an essential element of the web world to maintain privacy and safety of the users while also conserve the accuracy of the information.
However, the aforementioned features are also partnered with certain other attributes which enhance the entire substance and usage of this network software.
Various Benefits of Tor
- “Traffic Analysis” a wildly used form of internet surveillance, to understand the name and identity of the recipient and sender of the content in transit. But there are also more advanced forms and variants of Traffic Analysis which can also along with the “Headers” (Sender and Recipient), identify and track the content of the data. This is where Tor plays an essential role and prevents any sort of information in a transaction to be visible via public networks to attackers and other malignant hackers. Tor does this by encrypting the entire transaction and distributing it through a web of networks making it extremely difficult to track the conversation, end to end.
- It must be noted that Tor can protect the transport of information but cannot fully provide identity security and establish complete anonymity. Any hacker making a well-timed attack can identify data coming out of your computer by using information that if you’ve filled out in online forms.
- A user can download the Tor browser which allows any individual to utilise the benefits of Tor on different Operation Systems like OSX or Linux. The Tor Browser might prevent certain other information to be leaked or hacked, as it stops from attackers to access your geographical location, and also hop over censorship and view blocked websites, acting as a ‘Circumvention Tool’, thus enhancing the features of the network software, further. Unlike a lot of other software, downloading and using TOR is completely FREE and convenient.
- How to download Tor, might be a probable question in the minds of a majority of users.For the best performance of Tor, the user must download the Tor Browser on whichever Operating system one is using.
How to Download Tor Browser
The Tor Browser can be downloaded from the Website: The Tor Project; or GetTor services can also be availed in case the Tor Project website is unavailable. There are different languages in which the Tor Browser can be downloaded.
How to downloadTor Browser for MAC OS X
- Download the Tor Browser using the Link mentioned on the Tor Project Website.
- Download and save the file to open the file in .dmg format. After dragging the file to the Applications folder open the Tor browser and use Tor in your selected language.
How to download Tor Browser for Linux
After saving the file, run the file on either of the following two commands:
- For 32-bit version: tar -xvJf Tor-browser-linux32-7.0.2_LANG.tar.xz
- For the 64-bit version: tar -xvJf Tor-browser-linux64-7.0.2_LANG.tar.xz
- One can then switch to Tor Browser after by running: cd Tor-browser_LANG
- To run the Tor Browser click on the Tor Browser Icon.
How to downloadTor Browser for Windows
- The Downloaded file has to be clicked on twice and then click on the ‘Run’ option after selecting the required Language and click ‘OK’
- After clicking Install, the Installing might take some time to finish.
- The Browser will launch once the user clicks on ‘Finish’ and the user selects “Connect” on the Tor Browser’s Wizard.
- The Tor Browser can also be accessed through the folder Tor Browser saved at the destination of the application.
There are some parts of the Web and Internet that cannot be accessed through regular and ordinary browsers. The Web is divided into Surface Web and the Dark Web. By the help of Tor Browser you can access the Dark web securely.
Surface Web
This part of the internet is freely available and accessible through standard means and search engines. Tor is not required to get entry into this area of the internet.
Deep Web/ Dark Web
Deep Web consists of those Websites, contents or information on the internet which is either invisible to users or extremely well hidden to be found through ordinary search engines. Deep Web uses Peer to Peer networking to transmit information. Data on the web can be made invisible and encrypted to save it from being indexed by ordinary search engines through various means like Non-HTML text, Dynamic Content, Private Web, Softwares etc.
The Last Words
To Access this part of the Web, users need special software like Tor to share information to private networks and maintaining secrecy. One can access this information by simply downloading the Tor Browser and using Tor to find encrypted information. Tor is used by many government agencies as well for its safety features, however, a lot of illegal activities have also begun to take place in the deep and dark web space. Tor has vastly helped in securing the Internet Space.