In the last couples of day, I’ve seen my fair share of privacy infringement from all kind of service provider. I am a ‘free web’ militant but I’m also a free software consultant and as such, my professional self is often called to deploy network management tools in ISP or servers hosting facility. Most of these tools can be used to maintain the integrity of the network and enhance performance, however, they can also be used in questionable behaviors such as wire tapping. Today, I’ll be installing/presenting TOR, an anonymity program, on a GNU/Linux workstation to hide web browsing request.
Let it be known that TOR is not the ultimate solution. This software should not be used as a way to ‘secure’ transactions/requests. Its very usage is to proxy tcp requests to a series of hosts all around the world. In other words, it will scramble the source IP of every request.
Installing TOR for anonymity
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. Tor provides the foundation for a range of applications that allow organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy.
Source: TOR official website
Privacy is the keyword. Another important fact is that peer-to-peer applications will not work well with proxy relaying (so forget forwarding your bit-torrent traffic inside the ‘tor cloud’).
Installation process (GNU/Linux)
Installing dependencies
# apt-get install libssl-dev libevent-dev
Installing TOR
# download latest sources in repository.
# tar zxf tor-0.2.0.34.tar.gz
# cd tor-0.2.0.34 ; ./configure ; make ; sudo make install
Installing privoxy
# download lastest sources in repository.
# apt-get install autoconf
# adduser privoxy
# tar zxf privoxy-3.0.13-beta-src.tar.gz
# cd privoxy-3.0.13-beta
# autoheader ; autoconf ; ./configure ; make ; make install
Start applications
# /etc/init.d/privoxy start
# tor
Installing TORbutton add-ons for Firefox.
# https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2275
# click add to firefox.
There you go. Click on the ‘tor disabled’ in the lower right corner and test by going at https://check.torproject.org/. You willl be able to browse the web while hiding the source IP of your request (this is only for http, for other protocol, you’ll have to forward them through a sock4 connection)…