Differences between normal routing traffic from Tor routing traffic.
Tor encrypts information about the persons identity at each level of the network. This can be depicted as an onion peel illustration. So, Tor is called onion routing.
The routing comes through connection of thousands of volunteer servers that are connected worldwide. The IP servers are hopped randomly to produce random IP addresses. This explains the routing part, of the Tor browser.
How Tor maintains anonymity during web browsing.
Following on with how encrypted information, examples that are made anonymous include name, location, suburb, state, country, browser and internet provider.
“TOR protects the user on the Internet, especially his/her IP address by encryption of the flow that is being stored to three layers going through three computers operated by volunteers. During the forwarding through individual computers, each of them cut off one layer, which considerably complicates any tracking of connection from its origin to its final destination.”(EO Security, 2022.)
Tor can encrypt and hide, not only users but servers, on recent versions of the Tor browser.
It allows formations of the dark web. Basically, it allows parts of the web to remain hidden and searched through invisibility without the ability to be tracked.
It allows anybody, including government to avoid being tracked when searching through the internet. Say you wanted to read the bible in a location somewhere where it’s illegal, you could do so with a Tor browser, its not just hackers and investigators, its anyone who wants anonymity, so its legal and free to use.
ProjectTor has TorMessenger and TorChat, which allows anonymous chat on IRC networks.
There are also programs that support anonymous sharing of files and email sending. These are called garlic and the anonymous message that gets sent is called a clove.
The potential challenges of the Tor network concerning traffic analysis.
It’s a free browser so you may come across content you might not want to view.
“Another problem of Tor use is that if a suspicious exit node’s IP address belongs to your organization, the organization may be held responsible for crimes that it did not commit – serious criminal activities such as DDoS attacks, hacks, and illegal trades.
This is because when the authorities investigate the digital tracks of a cyber criminal’s activity, they turn to the owner of any IP address they find. Many times, this IP address is an exit node of the Tor network. While the exit node may not necessarily be directly connected to the illegal activity under investigation, nonetheless, it is likely to be the first digital fingerprint the authorities come across.
Moreover, if an IP address is found to actually be connected to illicit activities, it could be annexed to a blacklist and blocked by other organizations looking to protect themselves.” (Ribco, N. 2020.)
The good news is the cyber security experts know how to read and identify logs to find alerts as to when this type of browser is being used, while web hosts and web developers may be able to identify when their website has had a vulnerability exposed and been subject to online viruses and damaging scripts.
References:
Oleg Sedko, EO Security, 2022. ‘Mighty TOR or How to Ensure Anonymity on the Internet.’
Accessed from: Mighty TOR or How to Ensure Anonymity on the Internet | EO SECURITY World (eo-security.com) on 19/7/22.
Quora Inc, 2022. Post by Abhishek Kumar
Accessed from: What is the difference between a TOR browser and a normal browser like Firefox/Chrome in layman's terms? - Quora on 19/7/22.
Ribco, N., Cyberproof, 2020. An Analysis of the Security Risks Posed by Tor Browser
Accessed from: An Analysis of the Security Risks Posed by Tor Browser (cyberproof.com) on 19/7/22.
Comments
Post a Comment