Browsing the Internet and maintaining privacy has become one of the main goals of users. It is a fact that our data can be stolen when we register on platforms we use social networks, as long as we do not take measures to avoid it. There are methods to browse anonymously and maintain privacy. In this article we are going to talk about the Tor2Web project and how it helps preserve data.
Tor Project
Tor is the acronym for The Onion Router, which in Spanish can be translated as onion router. It is a project that aims to improve privacy on the network. It allows browsing web pages or using online services without leaking information such as IP address, location, etc.
What the Tor network does is encrypt the information at the entrance and decrypt it at the exit. It works across multiple nodes. Although the main mission is to give anonymity to the Internet user, the truth is that on occasions there have been vulnerable nodes and it has been possible to reach the sender of a message.
When we visit a normal website, from Google Chrome for example, the connection goes from our computer to the router and from there to the servers of that site. They can easily see where the connection is coming from and where it is going. However, if we use the Tor network, that same connection goes through multiple nodes until it reaches the final server. Therefore, they cannot really determine what the initial connection was.
But if there is something that defines all this we are talking about, it is the Tor browser. It is necessary to use it to browse onion websites , which are part of the Dark Web and Deep Web. It is available for both desktop and mobile and is used by many users who want to avoid data leaks and have privacy issues.
What is Tor2Web?
After having explained what the Tor network is, we can mention how it differs from Tor2Web and, therefore, what it consists of. This is a software project that allows you to anonymously surf the web and access Onion servers, but without using the Tor browser.
This means that, thanks to the Tor2Web project, a user can access Onion sites from any browser. For example use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. How exactly does it work? Whenever you see a web address that ends in .onion, it means that it is a Tor service. To open them you need to use the Tor browser.
However, this project allows you to replace that URL , that .onion extension, with .onion.to, .onion.city, .onion.cab or any of the domains that are made available to volunteer Tor2Web operators. In this way we can access them without having the Tor browser installed on the computer.
It is basically a proxy access to the Tor servers. Keep in mind that this is not a project that hosts content, but simply acts as a proxy, as an intermediary, to reach the Tor servers that host those websites. The platform was created by the Tor team itself, to offer an alternative.
This reverse proxy is responsible for routing the requests that arrive from the normal web to the Tor Deep Web. Hidden services will remain hidden even if it is a Tor2Web proxy. Of course, the client, the person who visits that site, will not be hidden. The only way to truly stay hidden is to use Tor.
When entering a web page through the Tor2Web project, we will find a message indicating that it is only a proxy service and that we must accept the terms to access it. The project is open source and hosted on GitHub .
In short, Tor2Web is a project created to allow a user to access content from websites on Tor servers , but without the need to install the Tor browser. It would only be necessary to change the extension for one of those used by the volunteers behind the project and we will be able to open it from any other browser.
Tips for browsing with privacy
If you want to be able to surf the net and not expose data and prevent them from collecting personal information, we are going to give you a series of essential tips for this. In this way you will be protected regardless of whether you use the Tor browser or browse with any other.
Do not expose more data than necessary
The first thing is not to make public more data than necessary. By this we mean not to put our e-mail in open forums or comments on web pages, for example. This can be collected by bots on the Internet and put us on Spam lists and put our privacy at risk.
We can mention the same about social networks , where sometimes we put too much public data. It is important to protect privacy in this regard. We can always configure the profiles to be private, for example. We also decide what information we share and with whom.
keep everything up to date
Another fundamental issue is to have our equipment updated correctly. We must always install all the patches that appear and thus correct the vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers and attack. This could expose personal data, passwords, etc.
We must especially apply this to all the applications that we use and that connect to the Internet. For example, the browser, such as Chrome or Firefox, must always be correctly updated to the latest version. Also programs that we use to download files, access the cloud, etc.
Have security programs
Having a good antivirus , such as Windows Defender, Avast or Bitdefender, is essential to prevent the entry of malware. But we must not only mention antiviruses, but also firewalls or even browser extensions that can protect us and eliminate possible malicious software.
There are many types of viruses that can compromise our privacy. They can reach our computers simply by downloading a malicious file by mail or installing some fraudulent program. There it will be essential to have an antivirus that detects threats. It must always be correctly updated.
Common sense
But if there is something important to maintain privacy, it is common sense. We must avoid making mistakes that may affect us. For example, clicking where we shouldn’t, installing some program that we have downloaded from third-party sites and may not be safe or logging in to a fake page.
It is important to avoid this type of action that can be a danger. If we only use official programs, we log in to secure sites, we are careful with the files that we download by e-mail… All this will help us to maintain privacy on the network and be more protected.
In short, the Tor2Web project is an alternative to using the Tor browser to be able to browse the web with greater privacy. It is also essential at all times to avoid making mistakes and be protected.
