How tor works

How Tor works exactly. Tor is a global network that uses a technique called Onion Routing. It receives this name for the encapsulation that takes place between each "onion layer", with the aim of protecting communications and avoiding any type of tracking. This guarantees, to a certain extent, a good level of anonymity and privacy on the net.

How Tor works and what we should use it for

How Tor works … To explain it, it is much easier to see how “classic” networks work first and thus see the clearest difference. Traditionally, any packet of information sent over the Internet is done by sending data more or less directly.

To give an example: your computer generates an information packet, it circulates through the local network of your home to the router, from the router it goes to the DNS of your ISP (service provider) and from the DNS of your ISP it can go directly to the web page you want to visit (server) or go through another intermediate DNS that redirects to the destination server. Roughly and without going into many details, since there are many more intermediate elements.

This traditional path, used since the creation of the Internet, is relatively easy to trace. The authorities of our country could intercept our traffic if they have access to our ISP or an intermediate node, or from our Wi-Fi network if someone is "auditing" the local network.

Tor intends to avoid the trail and guarantee anonymity on the Internet. Although we have already told you what Tor is, let's take a brief look: Tor uses the Onion Routing technique to route the information packet to its destination. Instead of using a conventional connection path, take a completely different path.

How the Tor network works

Tor sends the information packets through several intermediate nodes. First, a pseudo-random route to the destination is calculated, obtaining the public keys of each of these nodes.

The information package is progressively encrypted by all these layers, like the layers of an onion. The package containing the information (message, destination and route) is encrypted first. For each node, the packet is "wrapped" with new encryption layers that are carried out using the public keys of the intermediate nodes. Upon reaching the penultimate node, it fully decrypts the packet to route it to the already "unprotected" destination server.

This is a very simplified explanation of how Tor works, although of course there are many more technical details that prevent tracking and guarantee a good level of anonymity to its users.

What is Tor for and how can we use it

Tor, in addition to being the name used to name the network, is also the name popularly received by your Tor Browser search engine.

There are several ways to use Tor. We can configure it quickly and easily in any popular Linux distribution, such as Ubuntu or Debian, download Tor Browser for Windows or Mac, or compile the software ourselves on your computer, its source code.

Now that we know how Tor works and how to use it, we can ask ourselves the key question: what is Tor for?

• Remain anonymous. Access the Deep Web.

Many people have used and are using Tor to remain anonymous. Some branches of the United States government have used this medium to make secure communications, and certain exiles use this channel to remain anonymous and untraceable, such as the case of Edward Snowden.

WE RECOMMEND YOU Russia plans to completely disconnect from the internet before April

However, Tor's most popular function is to give access to the Deep Web. The vast majority of search engines, such as Google or Yahoo, do not index servers with certain content. On the Deep Web we can find everything from professional hacking services, to violent or themed movies, to pedophilia.

In the latter case, in the case of pedophile content, it has been largely eradicated due to the poor image it generates of the Tor network. The vast majority of Tor indices no longer allow this content, and have even come to be haunted by hackers from around the world, leading these users and servers even further into exile.