As we all know, Ubuntu is one of the most stable and secure operating system around. We accept the fact that it is totally free from viruses/malware but still there are some things which need to be looked upon while using Ubuntu on a Public Network like CyberCafe’s, Offices, School/College Wifi etc. Most of the times, these places are governed by Surveillance personnel compromising your privacy and freedom of browsing. To solve this problem, we have for you Tor: The Onion Router.
Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against network surveillance that threatens personal freedom & privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis. Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people to improve their privacy and security on the World wide web. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy. With Tor, you will be free to browse anonymously without your ISP knowing what sites you are visiting. It can also help you bypass any blocks put up by your ISP on some particular websites as well.
How it Works :-
Tor protects a user by bouncing the communications around a distributed network of relays, it prevents somebody(may be Authorized personnel in case) watching a user’s Internet activity from learning sites being visited, and it prevents the sites from learning user’s physical location. The original IP is masked by passing it through special(Onion) routers, and hence it prevents Internet applications that are configured to send their traffic from compromising user’s privacy. Tor works with many existing applications, including web browsers, instant messaging clients, remote login, and other applications based on the TCP protocol.
Tor anonymizes the origin of your traffic, and it encrypts everything between you and the Tor network and everything inside the Tor network, but it can’t encrypt your traffic between the Tor network and its final destination.