Many of our readers are taking their privacy seriously. Some are existing Tor users and some are exploring its use to stay anonymous online. And, unsurprisingly, we regularly receive questions related to The Onion Router (TOR). Today we are responding to one of those questions – whether it makes sense to use Onion over VPN.
For those who haven’t heard of Tor before, let us quickly explain what it’s all about…
What is Tor?
Tor stands for “The Onion Router“; it is free and open-source software for enabling anonymous communication on the Internet. The “onion” is used to describe the protocol because of its peels, with Tor routing data through multiple layers (peels) of security before reaching its final destination.
Tor protects users against “traffic analysis,” which can be used to reveal one’s identity and location by monitoring the data at different points between the computer and the websites he/she visits. Here’s how Tor works as explained by the EFF.
Everyone can use Tor with a Tor browser, which routes all traffic coming to and from your computer through randomly selected servers, which are known as Tor nodes. Every request is then sent to several other (Tor) nodes before reaching its final destination. And the same thing happens when data is passed back to you, assuring a high level of anonymity. This is because every node in the network only knows the IP address of the previous node and the IP of the next node. So it is impossible for any single server to know where the data originally came from and the final destination.
Pros & Cons of Tor
Tor is popular for a few reasons, the most important being that it is free to use while delivering a high level of anonymity. Also, because it’s decentralized – no government entity nor major corporation can shut it down. Furthermore, in some high-censorship countries, it lets users bypass government restrictions and provides access to the Internet in its entirety.
On the downside though, because we’re talking about a free service, it could be slow at times. Tor nodes aren’t necessarily server powerhouses maintained by professional organizations — but by volunteers believing that our web whereabouts should be private. And while we applaud their noble goal, we are also not that confident they have enough resources to deliver fast download and upload speeds at all times. That’s why we prefer VPNs.
Which leads us to our next section…
Using Tor over VPN
By first connecting to VPN and then using Tor Browser you get unmatched anonymity on the web. A VPN will provide you with the first layer of protection and Tor with the second one. Each of these levels is pretty much unbreakable, together they are super-unbreakable.
With VPN turned on, even the first node in the Tor network won’t know your real IP address. While doing this, VPN will also encrypt all the data, preventing even your ISP from knowing that you’re using the Tor Browser.
So that’s a double whammy for anyone who wants to know what you’re doing on the Internet. They may be able to figure out you’re using a VPN — i.e. Chinese authorities regularly update the list of IP addresses used by VPN providers — but there is no way to figure out what in the world you’re doing online. What sites you’re visiting, which movies you’re watching, and so on.
Personally, I just use a VPN, but I have a few friends who are super serious about their privacy and are having this setup at pretty much all times. At the end of the day, it is up to every one of us to decide what works best for him/her. Just remember, it’s your privacy – don’t take it lightly. 😉