Tor, explained
Tor is a network and software ecosystem using routed, layered connections to improve privacy and resist some forms of traffic observation.
- The field
- Technical
- Reading time
- 1 minute
- In this entry
- Meaning · relevance · limits
The meaning
Tor is a network and software ecosystem using routed, layered connections to improve privacy and resist some forms of traffic observation.
Why it matters
Tor Browser is a common way to use the network for web access. Relays and onion services have separate deployment purposes.
The boundary
Account logins, endpoint compromise and identifying content can still expose a user.
Keep application identity separate from network privacy
A reader uses Tor Browser to reach a publication, reducing the direct link between their network address and the destination. Logging into a personally identified account or revealing identifying information in the application can still connect the session to them. An onion service also differs from a public website visited through an exit relay.
- Use HTTPS for public web destinations and assess application metadata and account behaviour.
- Tor reduces particular network-observation risks; it does not promise protection from every correlation attack.