Use TOR with VPN, Hide your TOR Traffic
Many tools exist in the market today to protect your on-line anonymity and privacy. Two prominent tools are VPN and Tor.
Netizens often use one or the other tool. This article explains the merits of using VPN and Tor together to better protect
your anonymity and privacy. If you already know what we are talking about – here are the
Best VPN Services with a NO LOG policy to hide your TOR Traffic:
| Provider | Price | IPs | Countries | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5000+ | 61+ | View website Read the Nord VPN Review » | |
|
3000+ | 60+ | View website Read the Cyberghostvpn Review » | |
|
15.000+ | 94 | View website Read the Expressvpn Review » |
What is TOR?
Internet traffic can be identified using the IP addresses of the source and the destination machines. By analyzing Internet traffic, government agencies and civilian hackers can uniquely identify you and your on-line activities. Tor makes such traffic analysis extremely difficult by using 2 components.
How does it work?
The first component is the Tor browser which you download to your computer or smartphone. The Tor browser is a privacy-enhanced version of Firefox. You use the Tor browser to surf the Internet.
When you open a website using the Tor browser, it does not route your data directly to the destination IP address. Instead, it reroutes the traffic through a network of Tor servers – the second component in the Tor solution. Specifically, the Internet traffic passes through at least 3 Tor servers before exiting the network to continue routing to your intended destination. The intermediary Tor servers are randomly chosen from a pool of about 10,000 servers located around the world. The traffic appears to the final destination as originating from the exit Tor server, not your machine. Your anonymity is hence protected.
Its all about onions 😉
Tor stands for The onion router. The onion is a great analogy to help you visualize how Tor works. The route that your traffic will take is organized into layers, like an onion. The entry server in the Tor network is the outermost layer of the onion; the exit server, the innermost layer.
All layers are encrypted. Each server knows only enough to decrypt (“peel off”) the outermost layer to reveal the next server in the route. Only the remaining encrypted layers are passed on.
Isn’t Tor good enough?
Tor’s algorithm is complex to understand, even with the help of the onion analogy. But it works reasonably well. If it does not, it is difficult to explain why in July of 2016, Tor was trusted by an estimated 1.6 million devices to access the Internet.
Not only does Tor work, it is also free. You can download the Tor browser for free. Access to the Tor network of servers is, again, free. Then, why is Tor not good enough, by itself?
Is your ISP watching TOR users?
The Tor solution is most vulnerable in the entry and exit points of the Tor network. Home users typically subscribe to an Internet service plan offered by an Internet Service Provider (ISP), for example, the local telecom or cable company.
Your Tor-encrypted Internet traffic goes through the ISP to enter the Tor network. It is true that the actual data and the final destination IP address are encrypted and therefore relatively safe. However, if you read carefully the ISP Service Agreement, you will find that nothing in it prevents the ISP from logging your on-line activities.
You can presume that:
- The ISP does know if and when you are using Tor.
- To comply with local legal requirements, your ISP may be compelled to hand over your Tor usage data to the authorities.
The fact that the ISP knows about your Tor usage can be bad for you in 2 ways.
- Tor usage may arouse suspicion in your on-line activities.In 2014, an allegation was made that Comcast, an ISP, contacted a couple of its customers to threaten them over the use of Tor.
Comcast subsequently denied such claim.
While that incident appears to be anecdotal in nature, the risk is real that knowledge of you using Tor may cause the ISP, and potentially government authorities, to suspect you of sinister on-line activities. - Correlating Tor usage data between entry and exit servers may expose you.The Tor usage data entering the Tor network will correctly identify the source (you), but not the final destination. Similarly, the Tor data exiting the network will identify the final destination, but not you as the source. Theoretically, a powerful software program can expose you by correlating time-stamps within the data logs of both entry and exit Tor servers.
Adding VPN to the mix
VPN is an acronym for Virtual Private Network. Unlike Tor which is run by a non-profit organization, VPN is typically offered by a for-profit company that charges a monthly subscription fee for using its services.
When you open a VPN connection, you must select a single VPN server to act as the proxy between you and the final destination. All your Internet traffic is encrypted and transmitted in the VPN tunnel. The traffic is identified as coming from the VPN server, not from you.
To run VPN and Tor together, first, you open a VPN connection. Then, you run the Tor browser. In this way, all Internet activities within the Tor browser are first encrypted in multiple layers using Tor, and then encrypted again for VPN. The data is tunnelled from your machine to the VPN server, and then bounced around in the Tor network.
Here are the best log-free VPNs to hide your TOR Traffic:
| Provider | Price | IPs | Countries | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
5000+ | 61+ | View website Read the Nord VPN Review » | |
|
|
3000+ | 60+ | View website Read the Cyberghostvpn Review » | |
|
|
15.000+ | 94 | View website Read the Expressvpn Review » |
Hiding Tor
By running Tor inside a VPN tunnel, your Tor usage is hidden from the ISP. The ISP can only see that you are connected to the VPN server, but it cannot peek inside the tunnel. Only the VPN server knows about your Tor traffic. To protect your on-line anonymity and privacy, the VPN server must not log your Internet activities. This feature is known in the industry as “no data logging.” If data is logged, you run the risk of the data potentially being hacked, subpoenaed in a legal process or handed over to the police.
While almost every VPN vendor claims no data logging, you must diligently read the Terms of Service Agreement to understand precisely what the claim is.
Fail safe
By running both VPN and Tor, you have implemented a fail-safe mechanism. If data is leaked from the Tor network, because of human error or a software bug, the VPN network is there and the data remains encrypted and your ip hidden. Conversely, if the VPN connection is dropped for any reason, Tor will keep your data encrypted and safe.
The VPN services we recommend here also offer a Kill Switch which completely cuts of the internet connection if the VPN connection is dropped so your real ip can not leak to any third party.
Caveats
If you run both VPN and Tor at the same time, be aware of the following properties of the new solution:
- Non-free, close-sourced: Tor is free, and open-sourced. In contrast, you pay a small monthly fee (< 15 USD) to subscribe to a VPN service. The degree of openness varies among VPN vendors.
- Double performance hit: Tor is inherently slow because it reroutes your traffic in the Tor network which is operated by volunteers. Good performance cannot be guaranteed by the Tor network. VPN adds yet another layer of performance overhead.
Summary & conclusion
Tor is a nifty, free tool for anonymizing Internet activities. It works so well that it has attracted the attention of governments, ISPs, and various stakeholders of the Internet. In fact, its mere usage may potentially trigger the aforementioned organizations to blacklist you. To completely hide your tracks while using Tor, you should run Tor and VPN together. It mitigates the risk of exposing your Tor usage and provides you with a fail-safe mechanism.