If you use Tor to access the Internet your Circuit of three nodes acts like an anonymous and very secure Virtual Private Network ( VPN) that hides your IP address from the things you use.

Tor can either be used to access services on the regular Internet or services that are also hidden behind Tor. Tor uses three nodes in a circuit because it's the smallest number of nodes that ensures no point in the system can know both where your traffic originated and where it's eventually going. The encryption ensures that each node is only aware of the node that came before it and the node that comes after it. Each node peels back one layer of encryption. You won’t know who is responsible for running the nodes, and the nodes don't know, and can't see, what traffic is passing through them.īy default, traffic passes through three nodes, called a Circuit, and the nodes in the Circuit are changed every ten minutes. (It's called 'onion' routing because it has multiple layers, like an onion.) Traffic passes through random servers (or nodes) kept running by, well, anybody. Tor uses layers of encryption to keep your traffic secure. If your primary concern online is to try and stay anonymous, this is something you’d turn to. In fact, it was originally created to keep US intelligence communications safe. Although the Dark Web has a reputation for being a place where criminal activity takes place there is nothing intrinsically bad or criminal about Tor.

The network of websites and services that are only accessible using Tor is often referred to as 'The Dark Web' or, more correctly, 'The Dark Net'. It’s designed to block tracking and eavesdropping, resist fingerprinting (where services tie your browser and device information to an identity), and to hide the location of the people using it. Tor (The Onion Router) is free software used to keep your online communications safe and secure from outside observers.

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