The source and destination of messages is obscured by encryption. Tor facilitates anonymized browsing by allowing traffic to pass onto or through the network through nodes that only know the immediately preceding and following node in a relay. Messages are encapsulated in layers of encryption, comparable to the layers of an onion. Tor directs internet traffic through a network of thousands of relays, many of which are set up and maintained by volunteers.

The Tor name derives from The Onion Router – the name of a pioneering privacy project run by the US Naval Research Lab. The same term is commonly used to refer to both the anonymity network and the open source software that supports it. Tor is an internet communication method for enabling online anonymity. The Tor anonymity network receives no small amount of attention from the mainstream press – not least for its purported association with cybercrime and darknet drug dealings.īut what is Tor? And how secure is it? The Daily Swig asked several security and privacy experts to answer all of your questions, and many more.

Using tor safely