How to Remain Anonymous

Tor is a magical browsing piece of software. However it does have a few limitations and you should keep these in mind. Tor is primarily focused on protection of data being transported. You also should use protocol-specific software (support software) to ensure sites you are visiting do not see your identifying info. You can use Torbutton while browsing to hold certain information about the configuration of your computer.

The Tor Browser Bundle is what you should be using, and the new version of this bundle includes  Firefox latest edition, since the programmers at Torproject.org do not have the time to constantly update the Tor browser to keep up with Firefox accelerated release schedule of updates. Torproject.org at this time does not recommend using the “Toggle” model of torbutton. Users are recommended to use Tor Browser Bundle, they should not install Torbutton separately.

Do not enter personal information

Also keep in mind that there is nothing Tor can do to protect you from a site gathering information from you that you purposely enter. In other words if you voluntarily submit your personal data to a website, there is absolutely nothing Tor can do in that case. You have broken the privacy bond by doing this so please do not give out personal information on sites you surf in the Deep Web. Protect yourself.

Alternative Services or Methods Tor is not the only method available online for browsing security, and we all know that nothing is foolproof. There are also services that will enable you to maintain anonymity, albeit at a slightly less secure level, and let us explore a few of these options.

Proxies: Proxies are basically services where users access different IP addresses to log in under using what are called Proxy IP addresses. When users log in under proxy IP addresses, it appears to others that their location is actually the location where the IP address is being hosted. Many users use these proxy addresses and they do provide some level of anonymous surfing. However, these proxy address lists are passed around and well known to many internet companies and they can easily detect if you are logging on via a proxy address. Also, you have the option of purchasing a separate IP address for yourself, a personal proxy IP, and these are certainly not as well known, but they suffer from some of the same vulnerabilities that other proxy IP addresses suffer from.

Proxies are really not that secure, as they can easily be detected by one eavesdropping on your browsing activities. They are considered amateur and low level by most experienced browsers of the Deep Web and most would not browse using only a proxy IP.

VPN Services. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. VPNs are private networks that many corporations use to maintain security especially for their financial transactions. They are more difficult to “sniff” (where intruders basically intercept data on the server) and they offer a higher level of security than Proxy IP addresses.

Policy on Privacy? If you want to maintain total anonymity, or certainly a higher level of anonymity, one fear that people have is a subpoena issued to a host, which demands the host to turn over your browsing activity information. Not all companies will do this, and some will flat out refuse to hand over the information. One company such as this is Cryptocloud and another company who refuses to hand over information is iPredator. So be sure and keep this in mind when you are choosing a VPN host, if you should choose to go that route.

Combination is safest. Many surfers on Tor, of course are using Tor, which is a first step in the process of anonymity. But many of them take the extra step and also log into Tor via a VPN network. This adds an additional layer of security and also makes it that much more difficult for any govt agency or any nosy person to spy on your browsing activities online.