How to Prox with Tor

Among the many systems that you can use to change your IP address (so as to access, for example, blocked websites) or, again, if it is necessary to disguise your network activity, surely the use of the Tor network represents a excellent alternative to consider. Before showing you in practice how to approach Tor , let me give you some hints at the mechanism of operation of this system.

Tor is the acronym for the onion router and the name is anything but casual: it is in fact an onion system, which encloses data in various levels of encryption. Each packet travels through a series of computers, spread all over the world: at each jump, the traces of the previous paths are removed and the next layer of the “onion” is revealed, which is ready to reach the next computer. Using this mechanism, when you reach the last node of the communication (in this case, the website to be visited), no traces of the data path are left, making it very difficult to track them.

Despite what you might think, using Tor is relatively straightforward, as there are browsers that can start onion routing in just a couple of clicks. In the course of this guide I will explain to you, precisely, how to proceed with Tor to hide your IP address on the Net, but also the traces of your passage. Have a good reading.

Index

• How to try Tor on a computer
  • Windows
  • macOS
• How to prox with Tor on smartphones and tablets
  • Android
  • iOS / iPadOS

How to try Tor on a computer

The simplest method of approaching Tor on a computer is to use the Tor Browser , which is a modified version of the Mozilla Firefox browser pre-configured to use the Tor network, to block the tracking data required by some websites and to complete deletion of data and history when closing all program windows. Tor Browser is available for both Windows PC and Mac, it’s free and completely open source.

Windows

To download Tor Browser on Windows computers , connected to this website, click on the Download Tor Browser button located on the page that opens and press the Windows icon located on the next page, in order to download the file to install the program on your computer. When the download is complete, start the file obtained and click on the OK , Install and Close buttons , to complete the Tor Browser setup; at the end of the procedure, the browser should open automatically but, if this does not happen, you can use the icon that has been added to the Start menu or to the computer desktop.

As you can see, the Tor Browser interface strongly resembles that of the Firefox browser; when the program opens, click on the Connect button and wait a few moments for the connection to the Tor network to be completed. To make sure that the operation was successful and that, indeed, your IP address is covered by the “onion”, open this website and check for the presence of Congratulations, this browser is configured to use Tor , a sign that everything is successful.

If you are unable to use Tor right away, because you are in a censored country, or if your Internet service provider requires the use of a proxy or firewall, proceed as follows: Click the Tor network settings button which appears immediately after Firefox opens (or type the address in the browser navigation bar) and use the Bridges and Advancedabout:preferences#tor boxes to define, respectively, the use of a bridge (you can use the integrated ones, request new ones from the Tor network or manually define existing trusted bridge information), a proxy or specific ports on a firewall. When you’re done, go back to the top of the page and click the buttonConnect , to apply the changes and connect to the Tor network.

To restart the connection to the Tor network and change the transit and exit nodes (together with the IP address with which the browser is recognized on the Internet), click on the resident broom icon at the top right and click on the Yes button , visible on the screen that appears; all active tabs will be closed and the related data will be “forgotten”.

By default, Tor Browser uses the standard security level for browsing the Internet, that is, the one that allows you to reach a good compromise in terms of privacy and take advantage of all the features of the sites you visit; to alter this behavior, click on the shield button located at the top right, then on the Change button and, subsequently, select one of the other available security levels, which are the following.

• Safe : Disable certain site features that can put your privacy at risk, such as running JavaScript on non – HTTPS sites and displaying certain math characters and symbols. To play the animations in HTML5, you need to click on the respective boxes.
• Very secure : leave only basic website functionality active: JavaScript is disabled by default, as are some icons, symbols, animations and images. Again, to play HTML5 audio and video, click on it.

Also through the security settings panel, it is possible to activate or deactivate the protection against deceptive content and the download of software at risk ; finally, if you want to access the global settings of the browser (which almost entirely resume those of Firefox ), click on the ☰ button located at the top right and select the Settings item from the menu that is proposed to you.

macOS

As I mentioned in the opening bars of this chapter, Tor Browser is also available for Mac . To download it, connected to the browser home page, press the Download Tor Browser button and then click on the bitten apple symbol , in order to start the download of the installation package containing the program.

Once the download of the .dmg file is complete , open it and use the transfer window that appears on the desktop to drag the Tor Browser icon to the Applications folder on your computer. Subsequently, double-click on the icon you just copied and press the Open item twice in a row, in order to bypass the restrictions imposed by Apple on developers without official certification. As for the operation of Tor Browser on Mac, you can follow the same instructions already seen for Windows, as the program works in a practically identical way to what was said a little while ago.

How to prox with Tor on smartphones and tablets

Tor on smartphones and tablets can also be used via some browsers pre-configured for accessing the Onion network and for deleting navigation data when exiting the app: you will find everything explained below.

Android

One of the best browsers designed for accessing the Tor network from Android is Tor Browser , the mobile counterpart of the program already seen for computers ; the application is free, open source and can be downloaded both from the Play Store and from alternative markets intended for devices without Google services. To get it, open the reference store of your device, search for the name of the app using the appropriate function and, when you have found it, press the Install and Open buttons , in order to download and start it.

If the application is not available on your reference store, you can get the APK package directly from its official website and proceed with the manual installation of the same: if you do not know how to complete this last operation, I refer you to reading the my guide on how to open APK files, in which you will find everything explained in detail.

In any case, once Tor Browser is open on Android, tap the Connect button to connect to the Onion network; once connected, visit this website to verify that the procedure has been successful. If you need to configure access via bridge, tap on the gear -shaped button visible at the top and select the Configure bridge item from the menu that appears.

To change Tor exit node and, consequently, IP address, call up the Android notification area and tap on the New identity item , located in the message generated by Tor Browser; to change, instead, the security level for navigation, touch the button (⋮) located at the bottom right, select the Settings item from the menu that appears and press on the word Security settings , resident on the next screen.

iOS / iPadOS

If, on the other hand, you are interested in using Tor on iPhone and iPad , you can use Onion Browser , a free pre-configured browser that can be downloaded for free from the App Store. To obtain it, start this last application, search for the name of the app using the appropriate function and, when you have found it, press the Get / Install button and authorize the download of the application by authenticating with Face ID , Touch ID or password Apple ID. To start Onion Browser, click on the Open button.

The operation of the app is really simple: to start, press on the Force item and then tap the Connect to Tor button to establish the connection to the Tor network; once connected, press the Next button , choose the security level you prefer to use during navigation ( Gold for the safest option, Silver to guarantee a good level of privacy or Bronze , to disable most of the integrated protections) and tap the Start Browsing button to access the Internet.

If you are in a country or geographic area subject to censorship, after opening the browser, touch the Configure Bridges button located on its home screen, to access the bridge configuration panel, through which you can use the integrated ones, request new ones from the Tor network or define custom ones; define the appropriate settings, tap on Connect, to connect to Tor.