DIGITAL MEDIA GHOST
  • Publication
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Subscribe!
  • #GhostsWriteIt Spotlight
    • Writer Spotlight Submission
  • Services
    • Digital Strategy >
      • Content Marketing
      • Law Firm Marketing
      • Social Media Management
    • Ghostwriting
    • Public Relations >
      • Social Sabotage & Online Privacy >
        • Social Media Policy Template
  • About

6 Reasons Why Tor Isn’t the Magic Browser You Think It Is

1/20/2016

Comments

 
​by Cassie Phillips, Guest Contributor

If you are interested in online security or are otherwise concerned about online surveillance, you might have heard of Tor before. It stands for “The Onion Router” and was originally developed by the United States to keep spies safe when they were conducting operations involving digital communication.

To put it simply, it works by tossing your signal through a house of mirrors before getting your information. There is a network of “nodes” that are created by volunteers to mask an IP address.

The end node will have a completely different IP address than whoever sent an information request, and the request has travelled through enough nodes so that the original sender is nearly untraceable. It sounds perfect, doesn’t it?
​Yet there is more than meets the eye when it comes to Tor. Here are six of the top reasons why anyone interested in using Tor should reconsider:

1) Alternatives Exist
A simple alternative that some would recommend is using a proxy server, which masks an IP address by making it look like another server is sending requests instead of the actual sender. It is cheap, simple and raises fewer red flags than using Tor would. The problems with them are involved with security (many of them are scams or malware) and unreliability. As great as they are for certain situations, they simply aren’t good enough to constantly use.
The most prominent and effective alternative we can recommend is a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which is a service that will connect your computer to an offsite secure server via an encrypted connection. This will mask your IP address and allow you to safely surf the internet on any network regardless of how safe it is. The encryption is that powerful. They are particularly great at getting around government censorship, which is just what many Tor users are looking for in the first place. The very best options for VPNs don’t cost all that much and are reliable enough for you to use in any situation.

2) Legal Problems and Criminal Associations
There is absolutely nothing inherently wrong with Tor. That being said, it has not received good associations over the years. Terrorists use Tor. Criminals use Tor. Child pornographers use Tor. This has led people to believe that it is the tool that is evil and not the people misusing the tool from its intended purpose of safety and privacy. Tor users have been stereotyped as a criminal element online, and while most internet users won’t pay it too much attention (or know that you are using it), it might bring unwanted suspicion down on you.

There is also nothing illegal about Tor, at least in the United States. That doesn’t stop it from being the subject of prejudice, and that prejudice can turn to you should you find yourself in a misunderstanding with the law. It won’t look good, and using an alternative method to mask your IP address won’t raise nearly as many eyebrows.

3) Connection Slowdown Can Occur
If you are running a connection through an unnecessarily (unnecessary in terms of pure efficiency and speed) long circuit in order to reach its destination, you are going to have some internet slowdown no matter what you do. In certain cases, this is acceptable. You might already have such a fast connection that it doesn’t matter that you are losing 20 percent of your download speed. You might only be downloading text pages that use the minimum amount of bandwidth that you can imagine.

Yet the slowdown can sometimes become so severe that using the internet at all becomes impossible. There might be a lack of nodes in your area, meaning a longer travel distance for your signal to become sufficiently obscured. The network might be strained at peak hours where there are a lot of users looking to pass through an area. There are plenty of reasons that might give you a slowed connection, but the effect is always debilitating, especially if you are serious about your internet use. And if you are even considering Tor, you should consider yourself serious about your internet use.

4) Compatibility Issues
Tor was never really intended for average consumer or citizen use. While the developers of the browser have done an excellent job adapting it to be compatible with most of the internet, the internet was never designed for Tor. This means that you might run into some problems while using Tor to browse more complex websites.

Some scripts might even give your location away after requesting personal data and your IP address as part of a cookie or as part of a script. This can tip you off as both a Tor user in the context of other data, and it ruins the privacy and security you downloaded Tor for in the first place. If you are concerned, you can limit yourself to forums and text-based webpages, but the internet is quickly moving to other methods of conveying information with the increased capabilities of the average user.

5) You Can Be Tracked
If you think that using Tor covers your tracks completely, you would be correct...two years ago. Now investigators and individuals have found a way to get around Tor’s defenses. The main concern stems from the fact that anyone can send up an end-node where the traffic can be monitored. What if a government decided to set up a few dozen and take note of all the requests that came through? What if a corporation decided to do the same?

If someone or a body of people had the proper resources, they could find patterns in the data requests and, through sheer processing power, track you down. They will eventually find similarities in your requests and perhaps information attached to requests that would lead a clever mind to put the pieces together. In addition to this being a massive breach of privacy, it serves as a security risk with the data sent and received being suspect to interception. Your entire online life could be at risk.

6) Governments Take Notice
If you are using Tor, it is most likely true (barring techniques and technologies we don’t know of publicly yet) that discovering your identity will be a tricky business. This does not mean that you are safe when downloading and installing Tor in the first place, the knowledge of which isn’t so hard to determine. Should a government notice this, they will be more likely to put their eyes on you, wondering what you might have to hide. For example, the United States government has a program called XKeyscore, which reportedly makes a note of everyone downloading Tor. This will make any non-Tor internet use a risky business.  Sometimes it is just better to hide in plain sight or use an alternative tool without so many negative associations.

Depending on the government that you are living under, this can have life-changing consequences for you. Due to its long history of use against oppressive regimes, oppressive regimes aren’t too fond of Tor. Some have gone so far as to criminalize its use and prosecute anyone who is caught downloading it. By prosecuting, we mean throw in prison and destroy the key, if not making a very violent example of you in a rather public location. This isn’t too common today, but depending on where you live, you won’t want to risk it.

Do you have any other thoughts on Tor? Are you going to stop using it now? Do you think the risks are worth it? Leave a comment below and join the conversation. We would love to hear about what you do to keep yourself private online and whether you have had success or problems with the network.

IMAGE CREDIT: PHOTO ATELIER
Picture

C
assie is a cybersecurity expert and technology enthusiast who enjoys sharing her knowledge with others.

For some great tips on how you can protect yourself online, follow Cassie on Twitter: @securethoughtsc

Comments
    Picture
    Become a Ghostwriter!
    Picture
    Contribute to DMG
    Picture
    BECOME A GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
    Picture
    PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS BY GUEST POSTING
    Picture
    ARE YOU A GHOSTWRITER? WE WANT TO KNOW!
    Picture
    DO YOU HAVE A GHOSTWRITING BUSINESS?

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Agency Spotlight
    Business
    Digital Marketing
    Ghost In A Flash
    Ghostwriting
    Media Relations
    Privacy Concerns
    Social Sabotage
    Technology
    Writer Spotlight
    Writing

    Advertising Disclaimer

    Archives

    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

Find your domain and create your site at Weebly.com!
Digital Media Strategy
Content Marketing
Law Firm Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Social Media Marketing
eBooks
Writing
Becoming a Ghostwriter
Blogging
Content Marketing
Ghostwriting Services
Guest Post Guidelines
Media Relations
Online Crisis Management
Personal Brand
Public Relations
Reputation Management
About
Our Team
Our Results
Testimonials
Contact Us
Locations:
New Orleans, LA
Nashville, TN


Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Cookie Policy
Digital Media Ghost  @2020
  • Publication
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Subscribe!
  • #GhostsWriteIt Spotlight
    • Writer Spotlight Submission
  • Services
    • Digital Strategy >
      • Content Marketing
      • Law Firm Marketing
      • Social Media Management
    • Ghostwriting
    • Public Relations >
      • Social Sabotage & Online Privacy >
        • Social Media Policy Template
  • About