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Feel free to skip the first part if you aren't curious about how the tech works (but this will help you understand it more)
How does Tor actually work? It's similar to a VPN... VPNs send your IP address to a VPN provider then the VPN provider spits out their own VPN IP and sends it to the website you are accessing. Think of your IP like an address it basically identifies you online and a lot of details about you every website you go to knows your IP address and keeps logs of this. So you can sort of imagine it like sending mail if you were to do it with a VPN it would be like sending your mail to a company that acts as an intermediary so that the person who receives the mail does not know your real address only the intermediary (VPN).
Why Tor is superior to a VPN... VPN's are companies at the end of the day with real locations. They also likely keep logs of your IP its still better then just using your naked IP but you trust your IP with a company that would sell you out for advertisers or if the government put pressure on them. Tor on the other hand does not work like this. The mailing example I used earlier imagine the same scenario but your mail gets sent to 5 or 10 different people before reaching the target. Also every time you send new mail you can randomize it so you send it to more people each time. Your IP bounces around to 10 different locations in different countries and you can change the locations every minute if you want. There are tens of thousands of computers that bounce tor signals every minute in a hundred countries.
This is not impossible to break but it has been shown that it costs the government millions to catch a lot people. You most likely are not worth millions to catch. If you don't make stupid mistakes its likely this will be an effective way of securely browsing the web. Most of the people who are caught fail because of human error.
tldr: Tor works by bouncing your signal across multiple randomly generated IPs
Why Tor is superior to a VPN... VPN's are companies at the end of the day with real locations. They also likely keep logs of your IP its still better then just using your naked IP but you trust your IP with a company that would sell you out for advertisers or if the government put pressure on them. Tor on the other hand does not work like this. The mailing example I used earlier imagine the same scenario but your mail gets sent to 5 or 10 different people before reaching the target. Also every time you send new mail you can randomize it so you send it to more people each time. Your IP bounces around to 10 different locations in different countries and you can change the locations every minute if you want. There are tens of thousands of computers that bounce tor signals every minute in a hundred countries.
This is not impossible to break but it has been shown that it costs the government millions to catch a lot people. You most likely are not worth millions to catch. If you don't make stupid mistakes its likely this will be an effective way of securely browsing the web. Most of the people who are caught fail because of human error.
tldr: Tor works by bouncing your signal across multiple randomly generated IPs
There are many ways you can access Tor you can literally look up on google.com tor download and download it on windows but this will not always be secure. It depends what you are doing but here are the 3 main ways to do it from least safe to most safe.
#1 Download the tor browser from the internet on your main operating system. This way is generally unsafe because operating systems like windows have been known to spy on people. Also most people have some sort of malware of keylogger which renders tor pointless. It doesn't matter if the website cannot track you if but windows can record your screen and pull up the data of what you are typing.
#2 Whonix on a virtual machine... A virtual machine can be thought of as a simulated computer inside your computer. Whonix is a software that only allows Tor to be run inside it that means any application used via the internet must run through tor. It also protects you against some malwares. But this is also limited since viruses have been known to still be able to get information for a virtual machine OS. Also virtual machine itself does store information and data on you.
#3 Tails. This software is the best hands down. https://tails.boum.org/ This is the link to install it this will take you sometime to do it so I will not give step by step instructions all you need is a flash drive with 4GB or higher and any computer that isn't 10 years old. The only thing I recommend is to make sure you do it right but if you follow the instructions it shouldn't be tampered with in the first place.
Why is Tails the best? It works only from a flashdrive meaning your the software does not stay on your computer. Tails is what is known as "bootable drive" basically it can work on any computer once its in the start up mode you can plug in a flashdrive and it will automatically make the computer run an OS similar to Whonix that only runs things through TOR. The best part is you do not even need your own computer you could borrow a friends computer and connect to tails as soon as the flash drive is removed all memory of the interaction is wiped forever. Its extremely portable and leaves no trace the minute it is pulled out. It bypasses malware too since the computer can only run what is on the flash drive as long as you download the proper tails software on the drive there is virtually no way a virus on a computer could effect it.
tldr: Tails is basically Whonix but better and can be done on any computer.
#1 Download the tor browser from the internet on your main operating system. This way is generally unsafe because operating systems like windows have been known to spy on people. Also most people have some sort of malware of keylogger which renders tor pointless. It doesn't matter if the website cannot track you if but windows can record your screen and pull up the data of what you are typing.
#2 Whonix on a virtual machine... A virtual machine can be thought of as a simulated computer inside your computer. Whonix is a software that only allows Tor to be run inside it that means any application used via the internet must run through tor. It also protects you against some malwares. But this is also limited since viruses have been known to still be able to get information for a virtual machine OS. Also virtual machine itself does store information and data on you.
#3 Tails. This software is the best hands down. https://tails.boum.org/ This is the link to install it this will take you sometime to do it so I will not give step by step instructions all you need is a flash drive with 4GB or higher and any computer that isn't 10 years old. The only thing I recommend is to make sure you do it right but if you follow the instructions it shouldn't be tampered with in the first place.
Why is Tails the best? It works only from a flashdrive meaning your the software does not stay on your computer. Tails is what is known as "bootable drive" basically it can work on any computer once its in the start up mode you can plug in a flashdrive and it will automatically make the computer run an OS similar to Whonix that only runs things through TOR. The best part is you do not even need your own computer you could borrow a friends computer and connect to tails as soon as the flash drive is removed all memory of the interaction is wiped forever. Its extremely portable and leaves no trace the minute it is pulled out. It bypasses malware too since the computer can only run what is on the flash drive as long as you download the proper tails software on the drive there is virtually no way a virus on a computer could effect it.
tldr: Tails is basically Whonix but better and can be done on any computer.
So assuming you've installed one of these softwares that let you access tor I will go over the basics. There still are ways that information can be collected even without knowledge of your IP. The first thing you should always do is turn the tor security settings to the max mode. This looks like a shield always turn it on safest mode this will disable Java Script which is really important. Many websites will not work when you disable java script like youtube ect. It depends what your goals are with accessing Tor but if you are on sketchy sites never enable javascript.
You can always reset your identity if you feel it could be compromised so don't worry too much on clearweb sites. But if you are on onion sites (which are basically sites that can only be accessed with tor) its a bad idea. Javascript can tell a lot about you and if you visit a site consistently they will be able to easily trace it back to you. Another way they do this is through screen size. If your screen is full sized they can understand what computer type you have based on the size of the screen.
Tldr: Disable Javascript do not keep a full screen turn setting to safest always.
You can always reset your identity if you feel it could be compromised so don't worry too much on clearweb sites. But if you are on onion sites (which are basically sites that can only be accessed with tor) its a bad idea. Javascript can tell a lot about you and if you visit a site consistently they will be able to easily trace it back to you. Another way they do this is through screen size. If your screen is full sized they can understand what computer type you have based on the size of the screen.
Tldr: Disable Javascript do not keep a full screen turn setting to safest always.
Most people get caught for stupid reasons. If you write info about yourself on a forum it can be used to eventually track you down. Even a word format can narrow you down so if you have a specific way you always write try not to use it. Don't write too much info about yourself when its tied to accounts. If you have an actual account somewhere try to say as little correlating information as possible. Modern AI can identify writing structures we use with only 3 paragraphs of your writing sampled. So try your best to write as efficiently as possible and if you can use a different format.
Using tor in a specific place. A famous case where someone got caught was a Harvard student who accessed tor to email a bomb threat in order to get out of an exam. The student was caught because there was only one tor connection in the hour he sent it out and it came from his dorm room and correlated down to the second with the bomb thread. The kid also failed because he admitted rather then getting a good lawyer (so he might have gotten out of it with plausible deniability they had no proof he did it until he admitted it) they could not prove he was the one that sent it but the internet providers do know tor is being used and the time frame so they know the exact time you used it. Everytime you use tor your internet provider knows tor is being used just not what for.
www.theverge.com
Here is the link the Harvard Tor case. Its interesting at the end of the day the kid played himself they only knew he accessed tor exactly at the same time the bomb threats occurred but there was no concrete proof he did it. But also in his case he should have used a bridge or went to a coffee shop.
Ways around this would be using a bridge(essentially a way to try and disguise your internet activity as clear web) or going to a public place with wifi. Like a coffee shop just make sure to wear a mask and pick a spot away from cameras. But most likely if you aren't doing something outright illegal (which I don't recommend whether or not you can do it you shouldn't) there is no reason to connect to a bridge or go to a coffee shop because you aren't Edward Snowden or running a Silk road site. But if you are using a Uni wifi and you do something that only someone at that location would know about it might narrow you down so either go to a cafe or don't do anything area specific or retarded like send a bomb threat.
Last note this also will all depend on what you are doing. If the government is actively spending money to get you then you will need to do a lot more and I can't help you. But if you just want to buy some weed this will work fine.
Using tor in a specific place. A famous case where someone got caught was a Harvard student who accessed tor to email a bomb threat in order to get out of an exam. The student was caught because there was only one tor connection in the hour he sent it out and it came from his dorm room and correlated down to the second with the bomb thread. The kid also failed because he admitted rather then getting a good lawyer (so he might have gotten out of it with plausible deniability they had no proof he did it until he admitted it) they could not prove he was the one that sent it but the internet providers do know tor is being used and the time frame so they know the exact time you used it. Everytime you use tor your internet provider knows tor is being used just not what for.
FBI agents tracked Harvard bomb threats despite Tor
The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in 2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video, and in podcasts.
www.theverge.com
Ways around this would be using a bridge(essentially a way to try and disguise your internet activity as clear web) or going to a public place with wifi. Like a coffee shop just make sure to wear a mask and pick a spot away from cameras. But most likely if you aren't doing something outright illegal (which I don't recommend whether or not you can do it you shouldn't) there is no reason to connect to a bridge or go to a coffee shop because you aren't Edward Snowden or running a Silk road site. But if you are using a Uni wifi and you do something that only someone at that location would know about it might narrow you down so either go to a cafe or don't do anything area specific or retarded like send a bomb threat.
Last note this also will all depend on what you are doing. If the government is actively spending money to get you then you will need to do a lot more and I can't help you. But if you just want to buy some weed this will work fine.
That's really it I probably missed some stuff so check out the channels "TheHatedOne" and "Mental Outlaw". Also know just reading this thread put you on a government list good luck
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