Changes

== Design ==

== Design ==

The Tor Project comprises a group of volunteer-operated internet servers which take messages from internet users and forward them to the intended internet website.  Typically, an internet website will know the IP address and characteristics of each visitor.  With Tor, the internet website thinks that the Tor server is the internet user, when in fact, the Tor server forwards the information back to the actual user without disclosing the identifying data to the website.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.torproject.org/about/overview.html.en|title=Tor Project Overview|accessdate=February 8, 2016}}</ref>  The Tor Project also provides software including the Tor Browser bundle, a Tor-configured web browser with anonymizing precautions, the Orbot protocol for for Android devices), and [[Tails (operating system)|Tails]], an operating system that is preconfigured to operate Tor safely.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.torproject.org/index.html.en|title=Tor Project|accessdate=February 8, 2016}}</ref>  

The Tor Project comprises a group of volunteer-operated internet servers which take messages from internet users and forward them to the intended internet website.  Typically, an internet website will know the IP address and characteristics of each visitor.  With Tor, the internet website thinks that the Tor server is the internet user, when in fact, the Tor server forwards the information back to the actual user without disclosing the identifying data to the website.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.torproject.org/about/overview.html.en|title=Tor Project Overview|accessdate=February 8, 2016}}</ref>  The Tor Project also provides software: the Tor Browser bundle, a Tor-configured web browser with anonymizing precautions, the Orbot protocol for for Android devices), and [[Tails (operating system)|Tails]], an operating system that is preconfigured to operate Tor safely, and less well-known software.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.torproject.org/index.html.en|title=Tor Project|accessdate=February 8, 2016}}</ref> The operating system Whonix is developed independently of the Tor Project, but is alike to its also-Linux-based counterpart Tails in providing a Tor-enabled system with minimal user configuration.

Each user's path to a website is formed by three nodes: the guard, the middle and the exit. A unique combination of those three nodes is a ''circuit''. Tor's anonymizing strength lies in its unique encryption scheme. Only the guard node knows the user's IP address, and only the exit node knows the content of the user's communications. It is vital to strengthen Tor's anonymization with additional methods. To stay anonymous, users must enable [[HTTPS]] communications so that the nodes cannot spy on the content of their communications, and must also avoid de-anonymizing behavioral giveaways.

Each user's path to a website is formed by three nodes: the guard, the middle and the exit. A unique combination of those three nodes is a ''circuit''. Tor's anonymizing strength lies in its unique encryption scheme. Only the guard node knows the user's IP address, and only the exit node knows the content of the user's communications. It is vital to strengthen Tor's anonymization with additional methods. To stay anonymous, users must enable [[HTTPS]] communications so that the nodes cannot spy on the content of their communications, and must also avoid de-anonymizing behavioral giveaways.

Various other aspects of the design of TOR make it even harder to penetrate.  For instance, there are now frequently multiple middle nodes, spread across the globe, adding legal issues as well.  The "exit node" can be anywhere in the world, as can the middle node, requiring any investigation to obtain warrants internationally.  TOR also has "hidden services" which themselves connect to the internet via a TOR protocol.  While a "hidden service" can still be hacked, each service must be hacked individually, ensuring that only sites with illegal content and a large audience are taken down.  

Various other aspects of the design of TOR make it even harder to penetrate.  For instance, there are now frequently multiple middle nodes, spread across the globe, adding legal issues as well.  The "exit node" can be anywhere in the world, as can the middle node, requiring any investigation to obtain warrants internationally.  TOR also has "hidden services" which themselves connect to the internet via a TOR protocol.  While a "hidden service" can still be hacked, each service must be hacked individually, ensuring that only sites with illegal content and a large audience are taken down.

 

The strength of Tor also leads it to be very slow compared to normal browsing. It is generally fast enough to download large files within a few hours and stream videos without pause. Whenever a user uses Tor, he slows down the network unnoticeably slightly for every other user. People who download large files for immoral purposes unfortunately slow down Tor.

== Vulnerabilities ==

== Vulnerabilities ==

* Firewall and network logging bypassing. A local network operator can log the websites a user visits and block any number of them he wishes. Tor allows users to bypass local firewall restrictions and prevents logging them. It is useful in work and school environments where access to a website is blocked. Tor may be the only option for those who live in countries with state-enforced internet censorship to access any website on the internet.

* Firewall and network logging bypassing. A local network operator can log the websites a user visits and block any number of them he wishes. Tor allows users to bypass local firewall restrictions and prevents logging them. It is useful in work and school environments where access to a website is blocked. Tor may be the only option for those who live in countries with state-enforced internet censorship to access any website on the internet.

* Evidence erasing. Those who are researching sensitive topics or otherwise do not want traces of their browsing to be discovered on their computers use the Tor Browser or a Tor operating system.

* Evidence erasing. Those who are researching sensitive topics or otherwise do not want traces of their browsing to be discovered on their computers use the Tor Browser or a Tor operating system.

* Criminals. Tor is notoriously popular among criminals. It enables anonymous, online [[black market]]s for trading drugs, child pornography, malware code, gambling and other illegal products. The Tor Project responds to the criminal use of Tor, "So yes, criminals could in theory use Tor, but they already have better options, and it seems unlikely that taking Tor away from the world will stop them from doing their bad things. At the same time, Tor and other privacy measures can fight identity theft, physical crimes like stalking, and so on"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.torproject.org/docs/faq-abuse.html.en|title=Tor Project Abuse FAQ|accessdate=February 8, 2016}}</ref>

* Criminals. Tor is notoriously popular among criminals. It enables anonymous, online [[black market]]s for trading drugs, child pornography, malware code, gambling and other illegal products. Tor is also popular among [[Software piracy|pirates]] of software, movies and music, who most often use the [[peer-to-peer]] protocol called BitTorrent, which allows files to be quickly transferred without a central file hosting server. It is rumored that a third of Tor traffic is of torrenting. The Tor Project has urged users not to torrent over Tor because it uses too many network resources and has revealed that Tor does not provide good protection to torrenting. The project also responds to the criminal use of Tor, "So yes, criminals could in theory use Tor, but they already have better options, and it seems unlikely that taking Tor away from the world will stop them from doing their bad things. At the same time, Tor and other privacy measures can fight identity theft, physical crimes like stalking, and so on"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.torproject.org/docs/faq-abuse.html.en|title=Tor Project Abuse FAQ|accessdate=February 8, 2016}}</ref>

== Surveillance ==

== Surveillance ==