Category Archives: Tor Browser

Indians are familiar with sharing Netflix accounts. One account, four users. Now, the same Indians are looking to share the cost of virtual private networks (VPNs) as increasingly they pay for VPN accounts. The reasons are several. There are thousands of websites that are now banned in India, using opaque and official or unofficial means. To access many of these websites, Indian users are now turning to VPNs. Then, there is the safety and surveillance aspect. As cybercrimes, identity thefts and the risks of surveillance grow in India, users are turning to VPNs.

Here is a number: According to data extracted from Google Play Store and Apple App Store using Sensor Tower service, India ranked fourth among 85 countries in the VPN penetration rate for the first half of 2021. India's VPN installation penetration went up from only 3.28 per cent population in 2020 to 25.27 per cent in the first six months of 2021.

But beyond the numbers, there are stories. A group of friends was looking for a fourth member to share their Virtual Private Network (VPN) account with. Even before I could say yes to my part of the contribution, they had found someone else.

Though soon, another friend approached with a similar proposal, asking me if I wanted to share an account with her. That is just how popular and useful VPNs are now deemed in India. While a lot of VPN use is to access streaming content that is geographically locked out of India, that's not the only reason why Indians are now using VPNs.

A tech enthusiast, on the condition of anonymity, says that user information can be stolen even from poorly configured private WiFi, let alone public WiFi, which is next level insecure. Because the data travelling through VPN is encrypted, it helps during banking transactions as it cannot be snooped from unsecured websites from internet connections. Now that there is talk of banning VPNs in India, there is a fear among users that it would lead to inconvenience. At the same time, experts say that banning VPNs is no solution because there are many more different methods that cybercriminals for their activities. Last month, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs noted that the use of VPNs should be banned in India. Here is how a VPN works.

A VPN user says that the ban proposal is ridiculous. "Today they want to block VPNs citing crime, next they would want to disable password protection on phones as criminals use passwords on their phones to hide evidence," says the person.

Experts say that there is a legitimate use of VPNs. "I use VPN for privacy reasons. A friend told me that out of many other issues, using the public internet is dangerous without VPNs. So when I go to an airport or a cafe and use the net, I like to feel secure. And again, privacy is very important to me. The service providers and these corporate conglomerates already know too much about me than I am comfortable with," says Mritunjay Rathore, who started using VPNs a while ago.

Karan Saini, an ethical hacker, notes that VPNs allow people to access the uncensored internet. He says that a sizeable number of websites are blocked in India -- over 4000 -- without regard to their content, whether pornographic, scientific, cultural, or anything else. He says that the ability of Indian internet users to browse the web freely is decisively fettered and will continue to be in the foreseeable future.

"Considering that, banning one of the ways in which users circumvent censorship should be considered extremely harmful for the ecosystem of the internet in India and quality of life in the country in general," says Saini.

Saini is a big believer in VPNs and their ability to protect user information. He says users should use VPN services (they don't necessarily have to be commercial VPN services), even if they have nothing to hide. "A ban on VPN services will hamper democratic freedoms enjoyed by Indians, and which are furthered by the internet," says Saini.

Who is likely to get affected the most by the VPN ban, and will it help stop cybercrime? Experts say that a ban will create hassles for users, without impacting cybercriminals.

"If there is a ban on VPN, the biggest challenge will be faced by internet companies or big corporations as they use it the most to tackle various attacks," says cyber security researcher Rajashekhar Rajaharia. "Most ethical hackers and cyber security researchers also use VPN because they do not want their IPs to be tracked."

But how bad can banning VPNs get? Rajaharia says it will not make much of a difference to cybercriminals as they will continue to use the TOR browser which is near impossible to ban or block. "VPN can be tracked but TOR cannot be tracked, which makes TOR a bigger challenge. While VPN or proxies are used by big companies, TOR is used by hackers, so the authorities cannot entirely stop hackers or spammers from carrying out their activity," he says.

Akshay Pednekar, a Mumbai-based cyber security analyst, says that if the government is thinking of banning something, it should aim at TOR and not VPNs. "TOR was built to access the internet," he says, adding that this feature of TOR has resulted in an ecosystem of the deep web where a lot of illegal activities going on. Banning VPNs is unlikely to offer any solution, he suggests.

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Use of VPNs in India spiking because of blocked websites, experts say ban proposal will not help users - India Today

Today, NuCypher showed record growth in a day 590%: from a minimum rate of $ 0.290181 to a new ATH of $ 2.61. NuCypher is a layer of encryption and data protection for Ethereum and decentralized applications (dApps) that do not depend on a central service provider. According to the developer, the implemented updates probably had a positive impact. The protocol, called a decentralized key management system (KMS) by the team, is designed to allow developers to store, share, and manage personal data in public blockchains. NuCypher has become better at managing IAM, database, and SSH credentials, the entire volume of calculations is encrypted, the proxy server is re-encrypted. By analogy with the Tor browser, it will also be able to establish a Dark Web for the Web 3.0 generation. The services services are suitable for usage in institutions that demand high levels of security, such as financial institutions, banks, statistical repositories, and healthcare.

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After graduating high school. Lora decided to travel and blog as a part-timer. Today she enjoys what she loves and works remotely as our finance and business reporter

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NuCypher (NU) Skyrockets 590% Today: What's The Reason For Such A Sharp Jump? Own Snap - Own Snap

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. Its sometimes called the underbelly of the internet. The dark web.It is made up of a series of websites hidden from the general public, yet accessible to anyone across the world.

For those whove studied its secrets, the dark web can be a place where criminal activity can go on without the eyes of the law watching.

Dr. Shannon McMurtrey, a professor of cyber security at Drury University, says the dark web serves different purposes depending on where you live.

In a lot of countries where free speech is limited and the censorship is heavy, the dark web is a way for people to get access to information without the worry of censorship, says McMurtrey. However, If you live in a country that has an open, free internet and you can just get online and search for whatever you want, there tends to be more criminal activity that takes place on the dark web.

The dark web was originally created by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory to ensure operatives could communicate with each other without being tracked.

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory open-sourced the software for whats now the dark web in 2004. Its been managed by a non-profit called the Tor Project in Massachusetts. McMurtrey says it gained popularity in the U.S. due to the dark web allowing criminals to buy, sell and trade without law enforcement watching.

Passwords, credit card numbers, social security numbers, its all available online. Certainly, the drug trade is what made it famous, when the Silk Road was taken down that was probably when it came on the radar for most people.

The dark web can be accessed through a specific browser called Onion browser or Tor Browser. McMurtrey says its similar to the Google Chrome and Firefox browsers we use every day, only this one is able to access sites you wouldnt find on the surface of the internet.

McMurtrey says a majority of the dark web is innocent citizens from other countries looking for ways to access an everyday website that are blocked by their governments firewall.

However, he says the minority of the dark webs content can be traumatizing for some people.

Theres no end to human depravity, thats one thing that history has taught us and unfortunately the dark web is a magnet for human depravity. Certainly, there are marketplaces on the web for things that are stomach-turning and theres a lot of things that are sold on the dark web online that shouldnt be.

When using the dark web, your computers location cannot be tracked, but McMurtrey says there may be some government agencies sophisticated enough to be capable of tracking your entry and exit points from the Tor browser.

Someone with sufficient resources might be able to time and track traffic that goes into the dark web and comes out of the dark web and draw some conclusions about where that person might be. So, I wouldnt say conclusively that you can be tracked, but I certainly would encourage people to have good intentions when they use the technology.

While McMurtrey says the dark web can be a useful tool to access information or discuss topics with privacy, he says theres little reason a typical U.S. citizen would need to use it.

There are things that you just dont want to see, you dont want to be a part of and you can stumble across it without necessarily trying so when you start digging into those websites that you cant get to with a normal web browser, you dont know whats going to be there until the page loads, and theres no reason to do that.

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What is the dark web? - KOLR - OzarksFirst.com

Bitcoin is a decentralized 10,000-node computer network scattered worldwide. There is no central authority, that means. So behind Bitcoin, there is no headquarters, no corporate facility. It has the nature of a decentralized network because only the technology is at the forefront, no business enterprise. This decentralized network is therefore beyond states reach. Who is the State supposed to address? Bitcoin does not have any summonable address, and the government cannot control Bitcoin. Its technology pure. And for almost ten years, it has worked without interruption.

Bitcoin has a value in respect to other currencies, like traditional fiat currencies such as the US dollar. However, like many cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is incredibly volatile, much more so that it is upward than most fiat currencies. For instance, Bitcoins total rise in value for the twelve months ended 1 May 2021 ran from less than $9,000 to almost $57,000 per BTC.

The exponential growth of Bitcoin can be linked to its price appreciation and adoption of Bitcoin by the crypto community. Institutional and retail investors have turned to Bitcoin as the most reliable crypto to trade, transact, and hedge against inflation. But what does Bitcoin offer at its base layer to the average crypto user?

Bitcoin was founded in the early eighties when algorithms were first devised supporting contemporary cryptocurrency. Bit Gold, invented during the end-1990s by Nick Szabo, was its closest ancestor. Although Bit Gold never got wider traction, it shared some characteristics that Bitcoin had in common, like watertight duplication protection, the blockchain as the final transaction ledge, public keys for individual users, and integrated scarcity.

Bitcoins first publicly recorded transaction was in October 2008, when a pseudonymous individual or organization, known as Satoshi Nakamoto, released a white paper outlining a new, decentralized cryptocurrency. The identity of Nakamoto remains unclear, while suspicion is focused on a handful of persons in the U.S who were engaged in the 1990s and 2000s bitcoin movement. Nakamoto issued the open-source code for Bitcoin in January 2009, which marked the start of public mining and commercial activity, and soon after that, stopped public communication.

Bitcoin was utilised mainly as a private exchange for the first three years of its life. By the end of 2012, the first large enterprise to accept Bitcoin payments was the online publishing platform of WordPress. In 2013 and 2014, further projects were followed, such as OkCupid, Baidu, Expedia, and Overstock.com. Baidu subsequently ceased to accept Bitcoin under Chinese government pressure, which saw Bitcoin as a threat to its own fiat money.

Bitcoins mainstreaming continued in late 2010 and early 2020. Day traders, hedge funds, and even business managers adopted the cryptocurrency, prompting a surge of speculation. As a result, BTC more than sextupled in value in the 18 months, which ended in May 2021. Acceptance of the currency by hitherto resentful global banks such as Citibank and JPMorgan Chase quickly followed.

While other virtual currencies preceded it, Bitcoin is known to be the first mainstream cryptocurrency. In addition, Bitcoin is the first to combine certain fundamental traits shared by cryptocurrencies which were later created:

Much like the Tor Browser program that allows total anonymity on the internet for peer-to-peer communication, Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer trading cryptocurrency. Portal, a Bitcoin-based DEX for P2P exchange, is leveraging Bitcoins capabilities to build a censorship-resistant platform.

Portal describes itself as a cross-chain DEX built on Bitcoin and a self-hosted Layer 2 wallet. Portal intends to streamline the atomic exchanges process between the BTC and other cryptocurrencies, a problem currently facing the whole cryptocurrency sector. Portal is a peer-to-peer layer built on Bitcoin which allows genuine exchange. In addition, Portal unlocks Bitcoins ability to decentralize finance from options trading to lending and borrowing.

Portals core is its Layer 2 and Layer 3 technology, called Fabric, an open-source toolbox for deploying censorship-resistant layers on top of the Bitcoin base layer. Fabric enables the completely private, off-chain execution of smart contracts for asset issuance, P2P swaps, staking, liquidity, derivatives, and more.

The Fabric Network is a computation market that users can utilize smart contracts (and other specifically built software) and pay Bitcoin to peers that run them. The contracts specify several financial primitives, including loans, debt, options, futures, vested payments, and more.

Portal is DeFi built on Bitcoin. It makes DeFi unstoppable with anonymous, zero-knowledge swaps via the first true cross-chain DEX thats genuinely trustless. It eliminates minting wrapped coins (i.e. wBTC, wETH) or risky staking with intermediaries. With Portal, DeFi becomes a service that anyone can provide, maintaining anonymity within open, transparent markets with a security model as robust as Bitcoin mining.

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Portal Is Leveraging the Native Capabilities of Bitcoin To Build Censorship-Resistant DeFi - InvestingCube

Written by: Shauli Zacks

Tor browser is a 100% free software designed specifically to enable users to anonymously make searches through different search engines and use the Dark Web. Along with searching anonymously, users are also able to share files or make communications through different platforms without being tracked by any network surveillance systems. Tor browser also has the capacity to hide a users actual location, keeping them anonymous through the softwares overlay network.

This software is designed for organizations, journalists, and anyone who desires to keep their internet activity private whilst being able to communicate with others with the utmost confidentiality. This software has a number of features and one of them is blockage of trackers, defending you against surveillance and resistance fingerprinting which is based on the browser and devices you are using.

Tor browser is available for desktop and mobile devices powered by Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android making the software accessible to everyone.

Follow the steps below and Ill show you to download the Tor Browser for free.

If you find that the Tor Browser isnt fast enough or you dont need all the privacy features, you can uninstall it from your computer in a few steps. Perhaps due to privacy reasons, the Tor app isnt located in the Control Panel or listed with all installed programs. To uninstall it, you will need to delete the source folder. Follow the steps below to guide you through this easy process.

If youre still looking for a secure browser, check out the free Tor alternatives below.

The Tro Browser is powered by the same infrastructure that runs Mozilla Firefox. In addition to the regular browser features, such as tabbed browsing, shortcuts, and the ability to display websites with video and audio components, the TOR browser keeps your online activities anonymous.

A browser built for privacy

It blocks all trackers, hides your IP address, and can access the Dark Web. While it has many of the same benefits as a VPN, the two are actually quite different and, if you truly want to stay anonymous and safe online, you should use both a VPN and Tor. For more information on how to best use Tor, check out the Ultimate Guide to Using Tor.

Tor Browser is great but there are other alternatives just in case you want to further explore these kinds of software on the market.

Is Tor Browser free?

Yes! Follow the instructions above to download the official Tor Browser 100% free. If you see a website that is selling a Tor subscription package, you should avoid that site completely, as there is no cost to use the browser.

Is Tor Browser secure?

Tor Browser is completely secure using multiple levels of encryption and IP address cloaking to protect your privacy and prevent any cyber-attacks.

Will I be able to delete Tor Browser from my phone when I feel I no longer need it?

Yes. Deleting/uninstalling Tor Browser is straightforward. Check out the steps for deleting Tor from your computer.

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Tor Browser Download for Free - 2021 Latest Version

> I got font leaks, navigator object leaks, buildID leak, actual version number leaks via feature detection despite the sorry ass fake user agent with RFP, DRM leaks

None of those leak. And if that is all you can come up, then I stand vindicated that you couldnt find anything, especially considering that RFP protects many more items than brave, and yet brave leaks everything

DRM is not RFP protected, so invalid. And clearly you do not understand the rest: that the lowered entropy is per criteria. Your ignorance knows no bounds.

There are no fonts leaks. Font protection is enabled for windows, mac and some linux distros. When used, it does not leak. Prove otherwise, because robust testing says you are a liar. If your claim is that some platforms differ, that is by design. The protection is per platform, including allowing differences in windows 7 vs windows 8/10. Look up the word equivalency, and that this is not a leak

Navigator object does not leak. The object itself is protected. What objects are protected? buildID, productSub, appCodeName, appName, product are the same for ALL Firefox users platform is the same for each OS, RFP does not lie about this so it cant leak that leaves appVersion, oscpu and userAgent which combines the others and adds a version hardwareConcurrency these do not leak in JS using the navigator object not in iframes or via any workers in any way shape or form

So flat out caught you making up more LIES and you trying to pad your pathetic list by listed non-items e.g. DRM and listing items twice e.g. buildID is already listed under your navigator item, and it does not leak it is the same for ALL USERS

What you fail to realize is the reason navigator was added as it is. It is not trying to fully protect these as this is impossible its not even trying to hide the platform. It is to make it harder for scripts, especially when JS is disabled such as safest in Tor Browser. If users are up to date, then any leaks are the same for everyone. If you knew anything about fingerprinting, which you clearly do not, then you would understand that this is equivalency and is not being protected

> Brave fights what you call naive scripts, i.e. most fingerprinting scripts. It also outright blocks a great deal of them natively, without the need for extensions, and does a great deal more than RFP with the weak ass Disconnect list here

reality: RFP in firefox fights what you call naive scripts, i.e most fingerprinting scripts. It also outright blocks a great deal of them natively, without the need for extensions

iron heart: brave works and is good, firefox with exact same method, not working , no good.reality: iron heart cant logic

iron heart: disconnect is weakreality: iron heart making up alternative facts and confusing tracker/fingerprint blocking with adblocking. disconnects fingerprinters list comes from openWPM which is world class, Also dFPI makes this moot real solutions from real engineers

iron heart: brave randomizes and is in a crowdreality: there is no crowd because its randomized

iron heart: leaks come from compatiron heart: blah blah blahiron heart is deliberately being obtuse and ignorant

Heres a tiny snippet of iron hearts lack of knowledge on the subject https://www.ghacks.net/2021/07/31/how-firefoxs-new-smartblock-feature-works/#comment-4501396 https://www.ghacks.net/2021/07/31/how-firefoxs-new-smartblock-feature-works/#comment-4501361

I dont know why youre still ranting about some arkenfox user.js or compat. These have nothing to do with the effectiveness of protecting real values. Your noise levels are stupendously loud, and clearly arkenfox or the fact that firefox can tweak hundreds of settings via this methods triggers you seek some help

> You act as if the FP defenses are the only reason to use the browser

Im not acting like anything. Where did I say that? More lies.

I use Firefox because it is the best browser for privacy, hands down FPI/dFPI, full proper network isolation, and many other options other browsers only wish they could add. Real solutions. Not shitty half baked gimmicks like Braves sevn days cookie lifetime, which didnt cover all cookies, let alone all storage methods, and is bypassed with prolongation attacks.

Brave pales in comparison. Brave is a browser run by an advertising company, which uses privacy as a gimmick to suck in gullible users. Enjoy your shilled shitty bat-shady crypto client which doesnt build anything except useless and incomplete wonky patches on top of googles wet dream

Excerpt from:
Firefox 93.0 release: here is what is new and changed - Ghacks Technology News

Linux distros are usually more secure than their Windows and Mac counterparts. Linux Operating Systems being open-source leaves very less scope of unauthorized access to its core. However, with the advancement of technologies, incidents of attacks are not rare.

Are you in a fix with the coming reports of Linux systems targeted malware attacks? Worried about your online presence? Then maybe its time to go for a secure, privacy-focused Linux distro. This article presents a guide to 3 privacy-oriented Linux distributions that respect your privacy online.

But before jumping into that, lets have a brief overview regarding the importance of a secure Linux Operating System. You may know that the Operating System is the core software of your computer. It helps maintain communication across all the hardware, software, memory, and processor of the system. It also manages the hardware parts.

If your computer isnt secure enough to use, then hackers can get easy access to the OS and can exploit it to view your files and track your presence on the internet. Privacy-focused Linux distributions offer a lot of good choices packed with the most reliable features to select from.

Now lets take a look at the most privacy-focused Linux distros that allow staying secure.

Septor Linux is an OS created by the project called Serbian Linux. Serbian Linux also produces Serbian language-based general general-purpose Linux distribution. Septor implements the KDE Plasma desktop environment and is a newcomer among all other distros.

The Septor operating system offers a stable and reliable user experience. Its suitable for a vast range of computers because it is built upon Debian GNU/Linux. So, a solid privacy level is what you can expect. The distro routes all of the internet traffic through Tor network to earn privacy credentials. The distro used to use a launcher script to pick up the latest Tor, however, now Tor comes in bundles with it by default.

Besides the Tor browser, a couple of Tor tools are included as well. Other features include OnionShare anonymous file sharing, Ricochet instant messaging; and some of the privacy-enhancing programs, such as VeraCrypt encryption tool, Metadata Anonymisation Toolkit (MAT), and the cache clearing Sweeper utility.

Alpine Linux is a Linux OS thats non-commercial, independent, and a general-purpose Linux distro. It can be directly run from RAM. Presently, Alpine Linux is around only 4MB. This tiny size makes Alpine a top choice. Alpine Linux is for those power users who need a simple, secure, and resource-efficient distribution. At the moment, Alpine 3.14.1 is the latest version released. Alpine Linux is made with musl, Busybox, apk tools, and toolchain.

Alpine is a developers favorite specifically for building a Docker Image. This Linux distribution has a low attack surface and is highly cost-effective. Here the binaries are compiled as PIE or Position Independent Executable including stack smashing protection. This helps prevent the exploitation of all zero-day classes and other such vulnerabilities.

Parrot Security OS is produced by FrozenBox and was released in 2013. Its a Debian-based Linux distro. Parrot was created for working anonymously, ethical hacking, and penetration testing. It can test authorized simulated attacks helping its system vulnerabilities assessment.

Parrot OS is a free GNU distro and open-source. Hence, its widely used by developers, researchers, privacy enthusiasts, penetration testers, and forensic investigators. This Linux distro has an in-built portable lab that helps protect your computer from being under attack of security vulnerabilities.

This offers a rolling release of updates and frequently added applications. Some of the core applications included in its desktop environment are Parrot Terminal, OnionShare, MATE, and Tor Browser. Have you faced trouble in navigating through heavy operating systems earlier? Parrots sleek UI and easy navigation make it stand out.

And this is the conclusion of privacy-focused Linux distributions. Have you decided on any distro? If you did, well done! And if you did not select any Linux distribution yet, heres a summary that might help in making a decision.

All the above Linux distributions are developed keeping your online privacy in mind. If youre in search of a general-purpose distro for your day-to-day chores choose Septor Linux. Coders would probably be happy choosing Alpine and Parrot. If a lightweight distro is your particular requirement go with Alpine Linux.

I hope you find this guide helpful. Follow Linux Journal to learn everything about Linux.

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Privacy-focused Linux Distributions to Secure Your Online Presence in 2021 - Linux Journal

Just a few weeks ago, Russias federal censor blocked the website for Alexey Navalnys voting initiative On September 15, Navalnys team went ahead and released their list of recommended candidates regardless, uploading it to a Google Doc. Later that evening, Google Docs became temporarily unavailable inside Russia. On the first day of voting in the State Duma elections, September 17, tech giants Apple and Google caved to pressure from the Russian authorities and pulled Navalnys mobile app from the App Store and Google Play. Whats more, Apple disabled its new Private Relay feature for users inside Russia. To find out more about whether or not Apple and Google had a choice in these matters and what this means for the future of the RuNet Meduza spoke to lawyer Sarkis Darbinyan from the digital rights group Roskomsvoboda.

Lawyer, Roskomsvoboda

Google had nothing to do with the problems accessing Google Docs, Roskomsvoboda lawyer Sarkis Darbinyan tells Meduza. Though the web service was inaccessible via a number of Russian telecoms service providers on the evening of September 15, Darbinyan explains that Google Docs was actually blocked by the authorities using specialized Russias federal censor (Roskomnadzor), uses these same technical means for countering threats to block websites run by opposition figures and sites that contain banned content (Darbinyan names the move to block Alexey Navalnys website and the website of the now-defunct rights group Team 29 as recent examples).

According to The New York Times, sources said that Google agreed to disable local access to the Navalny app after Russian authorities directly threatened individual staff at Google inside Russia. In turn, Apple said it blocked the app on the grounds that it includes content that is illegal in Russia, which is not in compliance with the App Store Review Guidelines. The tech giant also cited Russian officials claims that the app violates the legislation of the Russian Federation by enabling interference in elections.

Ive never heard about the launch of criminal cases against corporate employees. Ive never heard of Apple and Google blocking applications themselves [anywhere] in the world. And for Russia this is definitely the first case, Darbinyan maintains.

If Apple and Google had refused to remove Navalnys app, they would have faced fines and other sanctions, Darbinyan says, such as the Russian authorities throttling local traffic or shutting down their payment systems. This means the payment services Apple Pay and Google Pay couldve stopped working in Russia, the expert explains.

By all appearances, the corporations didnt want an escalation of the conflict, Darbinyan continues. The pressure on commercial companies is coming from many sides and its very unwise to expect them to suddenly become human rights organizations and start defending the rights of citizens. For them, the most important thing is to maximize profit.

According to Darbinyan, Roskomnadzor's technical capabilities have increased significantly since they famously failed to block the messaging app Telegram in 20182019. Today, the agency has all the necessary equipment namely, the technical means for countering threats to effectively censor online content that the authorities consider harmful to Russian Internet users. All of this is happening right now because after the adoption of the law on the sovereign Internet [in 2019], it took almost two years to create the technical infrastructure, adopt by-laws, and set up tools, the lawyer explains. It was anticipated that the authorities would become more active by the fall. And thats what happened [] From the fall of 2021, the Internet will never be the same again.

Darbinyan predicts that in the near future, Roskomnadzor may slow down local traffic on major social networks like Telegram, Facebook, and Youtube. The Russian authorities may not block [it], but simply make using a service inconvenient by lowering its speed to a minimum, he tells Meduza, recalling recent attempts to throttle Twitter and block VPN services. Who will be next is the big question. But given the large number of complaints against Telegram, Facebook, and YouTube, one of the major resources may fall under the gun.

The way Darbinyan sees it, Russias Internet censorship is inching ever closer to Chinas Golden Shield system (colloquially known as the Great Firewall). And its getting increasingly difficult for RuNet users to bypass the multiple layers of censorship filters both technical and legal that the government has in place. The authorities themselves are taking us back to the 2000s, reminding us of the slow connection speed that went through modems. Unfortunately, this will soon become our reality, Darbinyan warns. So far there are [still] VPN services that run on secure protocols, theres the Tor browser, and other tools for bypassing blocks. But such tools are becoming increasingly unavailable, and users have to master new tools for accessing information and protecting their own privacy.

We wont give up Because youre with us

Interview by Alexandra Sivtsova

Summary by Eilish Hart

Photo Credit: Sarkisyan Darbinyan on Facebook

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Corporate De-escalation Why did Apple and Google agree to take down Navalny's app? And what does it mean for the RuNet? We asked an expert. Meduza -...

If you're looking to keep your online activities to yourself then Tor is a great option for your privacy toolkit.

Tor is a custom browser with clever open-source technology which uses some very smart tricks to protect your web anonymity.

It accesses both regular websites and the dark web, the hidden area of the internet which you won't find indexed on Google. Oh, and it's also free, with no registration required, no data limits, no ads and no constant demands to upgrade to a paid product.

Is Tor the perfect web anonymity tool? Not quite, but it can work very well in some situations. In this article we'll explain how Tor works, when to use it, and how you can combine Tor with a VPN to get the best possible protection.

Tor is an open-source package based around a principle called Onion Routing.

This involves encrypting your data multiple times, then passing it through a network of volunteer-run servers (or 'relays') from around the world.

The first (or 'guard') relay receives your data and peels off the first layer of encryption, like the layer of an onion. In fact, Tor stands for 'The Onion Router', and takes its name from this layering idea.

The guard relay knows your IP address but has no other clues to your identity. It can't see which site you're trying to access, either, so there's no way to log what you're doing. The only information it has is the address of the next relay.

The subsequent relays don't have your IP address or know which site you're trying to visit. All they do is remove a layer of encryption and pass the data to the next relay.

When your data reaches the last relay, also called the exit node, it removes the final layer of encryption and routes your web request to its real destination.

Your target website sees the IP address of the Tor exit node rather than yours, so has even less idea of who you are. It passes its response back to the exit node, which routes it through the Tor network and back to you.

Tor uses the same core principle as a VPN service: it hides your IP address from websites by routing your traffic through another server. But there are several differences in how the process works.

For example, while VPNs typically use a single server, Tor routes your data through at least three.

VPNs have a single layer of encryption which protects you from end-to-end; Tor uses multiple layers, but these are peeled off as you travel from server to server.

And VPNs require you to log into a server, which then sees every website you visit (and could log that data, theoretically). Tor separates the knowledge of who you are (your incoming IP address) and the website you're visiting, making it much more difficult to record your activities.

Despite Tor's powerful tech and many privacy-protecting features, it's very easy to use.

Visit the official Tor website and download the right version of Tor for your platform. There's no iOS version, but the site does have downloads for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android.

Running the installer sets your device up with Tor Browser, a special version of Firefox. This includes the extra software necessary to make Tor work, and also bundles the excellent NoScript and HTTPS Everywhere extensions for even more protection.

Launch Tor Browser and it asks if you'd like to connect to Tor. Click Connect, Tor Browser connects to a Tor guard relay, and that's it, you can get on with running searches, browsing to websites and generally using the web as normal. The only difference is your traffic is now routed via the Tor network, rather than your regular connection.

(Beware, unlike a VPN, Tor Browser only protects its own traffic. Other apps and your system still use your standard internet connection.)

Tor Browser doesn't just support accessing regular websites. It also allows you to browse .onion sites, part of the hidden area of the internet often known as the dark web. There's no extra work involved, you just type the site URL into the address bar.

The dark web is often linked to sites selling guns, drugs, stolen data and all kinds of horrifying content, but although there's some truth in that, it's only a tiny part of the story.

.onion sites aren't only used by people looking to hide something, for instance. They're also a way to bypass censorship, perhaps to get around country-level website blocks. Facebook has an .onion site at https://www.facebookwkhpilnemxj7asaniu7vnjjbiltxjqhye3mhbshg7kx5tfyd.onion , for instance, the BBC uses https://www.bbcnewsv2vjtpsuy.onion, and the DuckDuckGo search engine is at https://3g2upl4pq6kufc4m.onion (note that these .onion links won't work unless you're using Tor).

It's not always easy to find .onion sites, but there are plenty of resources that can help. The Hidden Wiki is a huge .onion site directory, DuckDuckGo's engine indexes .onion sites, and Reddit has plenty of chat and recommendations about the latest .onion discoveries.

Tor has a similar legal status to VPNs across much of the world.

The technology won't cause you any legal problems in most countries. (As long as you don't use it to order illicit items from deep web sites, anyway.)

Countries which ban VPNs, like China, Belarus and the UAE, also disapprove of Tor. That doesn't mean you'll be arrested for downloading it - China is more interested in blocking the technology, so it just won't work - but it does mean you should be more careful. If you're using a VPN anyway, combining it with Tor might prevent the authorities seeing what you're doing (more on that, later.)

Encrypting your traffic and routing it through multiple servers does a lot to protect your privacy, but there's a price to pay. It really, really, really slows you down.

How slow? We ran a speed test on a mobile device connected via Wi-Fi. This managed downloads of 50Mbps using our regular connection, and 2Mbps with Tor. Like we said... slow.

There's another potential problem, too. Many hackers abuse Tor as a way to protect their identity when they launch attacks. Platforms understand this very well, and many display warnings or block access entirely if they detect you're using Tor.

PayPal gave us a couple of extra security checks and still blocked our login attempts, for instance. Amazon let us in, but only after we'd approved a notification sent to our mobile. And Google blocked us out of YouTube entirely because 'our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network', it complained. Tor probably isn't going to be a good choice for your regular browsing.

Tor's big anonymity advantage is that it's decentralized. The Tor network isn't run by a single company who gets to see every connection and data path: relays are run by thousands of volunteers from around the world. There's no one point anyone can use to watch your logins, record your traffic or otherwise monitor what you're doing online.

Your own network can see you're accessing Tor, though, which might be a problem in a country which doesn't like web privacy. And although the first Tor relay doesn't need any logon credentials, it has a little knowledge about you in the shape of your IP address.

There is a potential vulnerability in the Tor exit node, too, the server which both removes the final layer of encryption and gets to see the URL you're trying to visit. If you're using an unencrypted HTTP, rather than an HTTPS connection, the node may be able to log sensitive information about your activities.

Exit nodes can also use an exploit called SSL stripping to access unencrypted HTTP communications on what you think is an encrypted site. In August 2020, security researcher nusenu unveiled research suggesting up to 23% of all Tor exit nodes were engaged in a malicious campaign targeting accesses to cryptocurrency sites, altering traffic and redirecting transactions into their own virtual wallets.

Tor goes a long way to preserving your web privacy, but it has some issues. If you're looking for maximum protection, the best approach is to combine Tor with a VPN.

The simplest route is to connect to your VPN, then Tor (a technique called 'Onion over VPN'.) Now your home network only sees your VPN IP, so it doesn't know you're accessing Tor. The first Tor relay only sees your VPN IP address, giving it no information on who you are. And your VPN can't see which sites you're browsing as they're handled by Tor, so even if a server is breached by hackers, there's no way to access your browsing history.

Tor over VPN can't protect you from malicious exit nodes, which is why some users prefer connecting to Tor first, then the VPN ('VPN over Onion'.) But that allows the VPN to see your traffic again, giving you little privacy benefit overall.

You can use Tor with most VPNs, but some have better support than others.

ExpressVPN has its own .onion site at http://expressobutiolem.onion, for instance, making it easier to access the service in countries where it's blocked (it has a great Tor guide, too.)

And NordVPN has built-in Onion over VPN support, so you don't even need the Tor browser. Just choose Onion Over VPN in the NordVPN app and it connects you to the Tor network: web privacy doesn't get much easier than that.

Read more:

Today's best overall VPNs in full:

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What is Tor and how does it work? - TechRadar

Provided by CNET James Martin/CNET

Privacy is now a priority among browser-makers, but they may not go as far as you want in fighting pervasive ad industry trackers on the web. Here's a look at how you can crank up your privacy settings to outsmart that online tracking.

Problems likeFacebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal have elevated privacy protection on Silicon Valley's priority list by showing how companies compile reams of data as you traverse the internet. Their goal? To build a richly detailed user profile so you can become the target of more accurate, clickable and thus profitable advertisements.

Apple and Google are in a war for the web, with Google pushing aggressively for an interactive web to rival native apps and Apple moving more slowly -- partly out of concern new features will worsen security and be annoying to use. Privacy adds another dimension to the competition and to your browser decision.

Apple has made privacy a top priority in all its products, including Safari. For startup Brave, privacy is a core goal, and Mozilla and Microsoft are touting privacy as a way to differentiate their browsers from Google Chrome. It's later to the game, butChrome engineers are building a "privacy sandbox"despite Google's reliance on ad revenue.

For all of the browsers listed here, you can give yourself a privacy boost by changing the default search engine. For instance, try DuckDuckGo. Although its search results may not be as useful or deep as Google's, DuckDuckGo is a longtime favorite among the privacy-minded for its refusal to track user searches.

Other universal options that boost privacy include disabling your browser's location tracking and search engine autocomplete features, turning off password autofills, and regularly deleting your browsing history. If you want to take your privacy to the next level, consider trying one of the virtual private networks CNET has reviewed that work with all browsers. (You can also check out our roundup of browser-based VPNs to try.)

In the meantime, though, here are some simple settings you can change in your browser to help keep a good portion of advertising trackers off your trail.

The world'smost popular browseris also generally thought to be one of the least private when used straight out of the box. On the plus side, however, Chrome's flexible and open-source underpinnings have allowed independent developers to release a slew of privacy-focused extensions to shake off trackers.

In the Chrome Web Store, click Extensions on the left and type the name of the extension you're looking for into the search bar. Once you find the correct extension in the search results, click Add to Chrome. A dialog will pop up explaining which permissions the extension will have for your browser. Click Add extension to bring the extension into your browser.

If you change your mind, you can manage or remove your extensions by opening Chrome and clicking the three dot More menu on the right. Then select More Tools and then Extensions. From here, you'll also be able to see more about the extension by clicking Details.

Here are four extensions to look at as you get started: Cookie Autodelete, uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger and HTTPS Everywhere.

If you're on Android, sorry: extensions don't work. So you'll have to switch browsers altogether to something like DuckDuckGo's app.

In the same three-dot menu in Chrome, you can also block third-party cookies by selecting Settings, then scrolling down to the Privacy and security section and clicking Cookies and other site data. From here, select Block third-party cookies.

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Read more: Google Chrome privacy isn't the best. These browser extensions will help

By default, Safari turns on its proprietary Intelligent Tracking Prevention tool to keep you a step ahead of privacy pests. Even so, the tool hasn't always worked smoothly since its 2017 debut. Google researchers spotted how Intelligent Tracking Prevention itself could be used to track users, though Apple buttoned down the problem.

Safari 14, announced in June and arriving later in 2020 with new MacOS Big Sur, will be able to tell you which ad trackers are running on the website you're visiting and give you a 30 day report of the known trackers it's identified while you were browsing. It'll also tell you which websites those trackers came from.

To check that blocking is on, open Safari and click Preferences, then Privacy. The box beside Prevent cross-site tracking should be checked. While you're there, you can also manually delete your cookies. Click Manage Website Data to see which sites have left their trackers and cookies hanging out in your browser. Click Remove next to any of the individual trackers you're ready to get rid of, or just nuke the whole list by clicking Remove All at the bottom of your screen.

Cookies can be helpful, not just invasive, but for stronger privacy you can block them altogether -- both first-party cookies from the website publisher and third-party cookies from others like advertisers. To do so, check the box beside Block all cookies.

If you're still looking for another layer of privacy, you can also install helpful extensions from the App Store like AdBlock Plusor Ghostery Lite for Safari.

Read more: Safari joins browsers that tell you who's trying to track you

Microsoft's Edge browser includes some simplified privacy and tracker blocking options on its Tracker prevention screen. Within Edge, select the three dot menu icon in the top right corner and select Settings. From the menu that then appears on the left, select Privacy and services.

You'll be offered three settings to choose from: Basic, Balanced and Strict. By default, Edge uses the Balanced setting, which blocks trackers from sites you haven't visited while still being lenient enough to save most sites from some of the loading problems that may come with tighter security. Likewise, Edge's Strict setting may interfere with how some sites behave, but will block the greatest number of trackers. Even the Basic setting will still block trackers used for cryptomining and fingerprinting.

Read more: Microsoft Edge privacy settings to change right away

Firefox's default privacy settings are more protective than those of Chrome and Edge, and the browser has more privacy options under the hood, too.

From inside Firefox's main menu -- or from inside the three lined menu on the right side of the toolbar -- select Preferences. Once the Preferences window opens, click Privacy & Security. From here, you'll be able to choose between three options: Standard, Strict and Custom. Standard, the default Firefox setting, blocks trackers in private windows, third party tracking cookies and cryptominers. The Strict setting may break a few websites, but it blocks everything blocked in Standard mode, plus fingerprints and trackers in all windows. Custom is worth exploring for those who want to fine tune how trackers are being blocked.

To apply your new tracking settings after you've selected your level of privacy, click the Reload All Tabs button that appears.

Read more: With Firefox, stop leaking your data across the internet

When it comes to anti-tracking tools, Safari's latest privacy updates are still short of most of those found in the Brave browser. By default, Brave blocks all ads, trackers, third-party cookies and fingerprinters while still achieving blazing speeds. Brave also offers a built-in Tor private browsing mode, a heavy-duty tracker blocking option, and added a built-in VPN for iOS users.

Inside Brave's main menu, select Preferences to reveal the Settings panel on the left. Select Shields to see a list of privacy options on the right side of the screen. By selecting the Advanced view, you'll be able to choose which kinds of trackers to block. By scrolling down, you'll also be able to block login buttons and embedded content from Facebook, Twitter, Google and LinkedIn. For even more protection and privacy fine tuning, explore Additional Settings on the left, and select Privacy and security.

Read more:If you're worried about your online privacy, this is the browser to use

For more, check out the best password managers of 2021and our FAQ on the Tor browser.

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Change these browser settings ASAP to protect your privacy in Chrome, Firefox and more - msnNOW