Ask Slashdot: Alternatives To Tor Browser Bundle For Windows?

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?"

Tor

[x*yy*x]

I personally find it funny when people use Tor and then leave behind the same cookies, the same user-agent, LSO and Flash cookies, same system configuration, same screen size, same fonts, same installation and versions of plugins, same MAC address, don't change DNS servers and countless amount of other things that make it very easy to identify your other activity or what you're doing. Especially to Google via Google Analytics.

Nevermind also that half of the TOR network end nodes are monitored and sniff your traffic and can modify your browsing session in various ways. Just imagine the fun when you happen to use an end node that serves you a drive-by download exploit instead of the page you requested.

Re:Tor

[Hazel Bergeron]

Except, of course, if you're running wireless. Then MAC addresses are recorded by various data gatherers and used, among other things, for that Google location guesser thing.

Of course, it's OK if you never speak wireless in the clear and always use an encryption protocol which will never be found insecure in the future.

What is the actual purpose of using TOR?

[Warma]

I understand that what I'm going to ask is almost a logical fallacy in Slashdot, but I'm going to ask anyway.

Why exactly are you making things complicated for yourself and using Tor in the first place? A person as paranoid as you would use only properly secured banking connections and reputable services anyway, so the chance of any identity theft whatsoever is minuscule. I really can't think of any credible motivation for completely endorsing anonymity except the fear of being caught surfing something explicitly illegal. However, the amount of replies in this thread and their tone suggest, that you can't all be 3rd world revolutionists or Chinese students circumventing the Great Firewall.

Is this just a matter of principle, or do you actually have something to hide? If it's the principle, what are you hoping to accomplish and why? If you're into snuff or whatever, I really don't care, but at least one anonymous reply confirming this would be amusing.

This is not a troll. I'm genuinely interested. Technical answers about repercussions I may have not understood, are not only accepted, but appreciated.

Re:What is the actual purpose of using TOR?

[Jane Q. Public]

"I really can't think of any credible motivation for completely endorsing anonymity except the fear of being caught surfing something explicitly illegal. "

History has clearly shown that the right to free and anonymous speech is essential to maintaining a free society. That fact alone is sufficient motivation to do it. If you don't practice and enforce your rights, you are likely to lose them. Your attitude is exactly why this is true.