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Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. It also enables software developers to create new communication tools with built-in privacy features.

How does the Tor browser keep my internet activity anonymous?

The Tor browser uses the Tor network, which consists of more than six thousand relays located around the world, to hide users’ location and web traffic. This ensures anonymity and prevents your activities from being seen by others.

What is the Tor Browser?

The Tor browser is the flagship of the Tor project. The browser is based on a modified version of Mozilla Firefox ESR that includes extras such as the Tor proxy, TorButton, TorLauncher, NoScript and the HTTPS Everywhere extensions.

Who uses the Tor browser?

Since the Tor browser has made Tor more accessible to ordinary internet users and activists, Tor was an instrumental tool during the Arab Spring from late 2010. It not only protected people’s identities online, but also gave them access to critical resources, social media and websites that were blocked.

Individuals use Tor to prevent websites from tracking them and their family members, or to connect to news sites, instant messaging services, or the like when these are blocked by their local ISPs. Tor’s hidden services allow users to publish web pages and other services without having to reveal the location of the site. Individuals also use Tor for socially sensitive communication: chat rooms and online forums for rape and abuse survivors, or people with illnesses.

Journalists use Tor to communicate more securely with whistleblowers and dissidents. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) use Tor to allow their workers to connect to their home site while in a foreign country, without notifying everyone nearby that they work with that organization.

Groups such as Indymedia recommend Tor to safeguard their members’ privacy and security online. Activist groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) recommend Tor as a mechanism for maintaining civil liberties online. Companies use Tor as a secure way to conduct competitive analysis, and to protect sensitive purchasing patterns from eavesdropping. They also use it to replace traditional VPNs, which reveal the exact amount and time of communication. Which places have employees who work late? Where have employees consulted job search websites? Which research departments communicate with the company’s patent attorneys?

One branch of the US Navy uses Tor for open source intelligence gathering, and one of their teams used Tor while recently deployed to the Middle East. Law enforcement uses Tor to visit or monitor websites without leaving public IP addresses in their web logs, and for security during sting operations.

Is Tor better than a VPN?

Tor is not a VPN. Tor is a free browser similar to Chrome or Firefox, but it includes features that encrypt your IP address, making your browsing sessions private. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is software that can change your IP address when you use any browser installed on your PC. To learn more about VPNs, read this article.

What is new

Tor Browser 11.5.8 is now available from the Tor Browser download page and also from our distribution directory. This release will not be published on Google Play due to target API level requirements. Assuming we don’t run into any major issues, Tor Browser 11.5.9 will be an Android release that fixes this issue.

Tor Browser 11.5.8 backports the following security updates from Firefox ESR 102.5 to Firefox ESR 91.13 on Windows, macOS, and Linux:

• CVE-2022-43680: In libexpat through 2.4.9, there is a use-after-free caused by overzealous destruction of a shared DTD in XML_ExternalEntityParserCreate in out-of-memory situations.
• CVE-2022-45403: Service workers may have learned the size of media files across origins
• CVE-2022-45404: Bypass full screen notification
• CVE-2022-45405: Use-after-free in InputStream implementation
• CVE-2022-45406: Use-after-free of a JavaScript realm
• CVE-2022-45408: Bypass full screen notification via windowName
• CVE-2022-45409: Use-after-free in Garbage Collection
• CVE-2022-45410: ServiceWorker intercepted requests bypassed SameSite cookie policy
• CVE-2022-45411: Cross-site tracking was possible via non-standard override headers
• CVE-2022-45412: Symlinks can resolve to partially uninitialized buffers
• CVE-2022-45416: Keystroke side channel leak
• CVE-2022-45420: Iframe content can be rendered outside the iframe
• CVE-2022-45421: Memory security flaw fixed in Firefox 107 and Firefox ESR 102.5

Tor Browser 11.5.8 updates GeckoView on Android to Firefox ESR 102.5 and includes important security updates. Tor Browser 11.5.8 backports the following security updates from Firefox 107 to Firefox ESR 102.5 on Android:

• CVE-2022-45413: SameSite=Strong cookies may have been sent cross-site via intent URLs

The full changelog since Tor Browser 11.5.7 is:

All platforms

• Update translations
• Update OpenSSL to 1.1.1s
• Update NoScript to 11.4.12
• Update tor to 0.4.7.11
• Update zlib to 1.2.13
• Bug tor-browser-build#40622: Update obfs4proxy to 0.0.14 in Tor browser

Windows + macOS + Linux

• Bug tor browser#31064: Letterboxing is also enabled in privileged contexts
• Bug tor browser#32411: Consider adding about:tor and others to the list of sites that don’t need letterboxing
• Bug tor browser#41413: Backup intl.locale.requested in 11.5.x
• Bug tor browser#41434: Letterboxing bypassed through secondary tab (popup/popunder…)
• Bug tor browser#41456: Backport ESR 102.5 security fixes to 91.13 based Tor browser
• Bug tor browser#41460: Migrate new identity and security level settings in 11.5.8
• Bug tor browser#41463: Backporting for CVE-2022-43680

Android

• Update GeckoView to 102.5.0esr
• Bug tor browser#41461: Backport Android-specific 107-rr security fixes to 102.5-esr-based Geckoview

Build all platforms

• Update Go to 1.18.8
• Bug tor-browser-build#40658: Create a keychain for anti-censorship teams
• Bug tor-browser-build#40690: Revert zlib build break fix