Ask Slashdot: Alternatives To Tor Browser Bundle For Windows? 201
SonnyJim writes "I frequently use Tor for my anonymous browsing needs, via the Tor Firefox bundle for Windows. I noticed that there are many other applications out there that use Tor as a proxy as well (Janus VM, ChrisPC, etc.) Are any of them more secure than the original Tor bundles, or am I just wasting my time trying these other applications? Is there anything more secure than Tor, as far as anonymous browsing goes?"
Re:Tor (Score:4, Informative)
I personally find it funny when people use Tor and then leave behind [...]same MAC address, don't change DNS servers [...]
Proof that you know less about this than you think you do. MAC addresses become irrelevant after the first network layer hop or an application layer gateway like TOR. Also TOR acts as a socks 5 proxy and will resolve names for you, again the the DNS settings are irrelevant.
Re:Tor (Score:5, Informative)
Use TorButton [mozilla.org] then (the Windows bundle includes it IIRC). AFAIK it solves most of the problems you mentioned. If you are using Firefox 4 then you need the alpha version from here [torproject.org].
Add to that BetterPrivacy [mozilla.org], and you should be much harder to track.
Re:OperaTOR (Score:2, Informative)
Does it have functionality similar to Firefox with TorButton [torproject.org] ? Otherwise I assume it offers weaker privacy.
Btw, according to this link [archetwist.com] OperaTor is not maintained anymore, and it was replaced by YAPO [archetwist.com] which does not support Tor.
Re:I don't get Tor (Score:4, Informative)
Can someone explain to me why someone who is monitoring sufficient backbones and running sufficient Tor nodes himself can't just watch a packet stream being bounced between Tor nodes?
This is one of many known attacks on Tor, and is the reason why as many people as possible should be running Tor relays, entry nodes, and exit nodes. This is also why Tor circuits are periodically changed by the client. In general, though, it is possible for someone who can monitor a large enough fraction of the Tor network to break the anonymity of the system, even if they cannot control the nodes themselves.
Re:I don't get Tor (Score:4, Informative)
I recall a raid in Germany [wordpress.com]. Depending on police behaviour and accessibility of records, in some countries that can be as harmful as a conviction (e.g. if you're working in a job with vulnerable people).
LiveCDs - TAILS v0.7.1, Liberté Linux (Score:4, Informative)
First, don't bet your life on this technology or OpenSSH or other tech.
Second, rather than run TOR on an everyday personal or work computer (Windows or Mac or Linux) with sensitive data and identifiable traits, I'd recommend booting a LiveCD: TAILS (v0.7.1 is the latest) and Liberté Linux:
http://tails.boum.org/ [boum.org]
http://dee.su/liberte [dee.su]
or get Knoppix and harden it:
http://knoppix.com/ [knoppix.com]
Change your MAC and connect at a coffee shop (if paranoid-- on the other side of town, and wear sunglasses in case of surveillance), not from home. Or connect to someone else's open WiFi, or get the key with Backtrack. Less secure is running a LiveCD in a VM (virtualbox or vmware). Another less secure option is running a hardened Linux, or at least running the Bastille script.
What am I missing? The main trouble with the LiveCD/DVDs is the NIC driver/module, but Knoppix is good for that.
integral-fellow
Re:Tor (Score:4, Informative)
Easy to fix when you use user agent switcher, ghostery, better privacy, noscript, google sharing, cloned mac addresses and torbutton.
Check out http://www.decloak.net to see how anonymous you are.
It's hard to beat Tor for anonymous public web browsing, but i2p [i2p2.de] is already a better darknet.