Many Internet users use encryption – for example, virtual private networks (VPNs) – to keep their online activities secret. As a rule, VPN connections adhere to the traditional line of routing behavior on the Internet for (1) determining the end-to-end path from the user’s computer to the server where the content the user needs is located, as well as for (2) two-way transmission of requests and response traffic along this path. But traditional routing is sensitive to traffic analysis, a surveillance technology that can reveal traffic sources, destinations and the number of transfers to third parties. Traffic analysis is related to the collection of metadata, we discussed this topic in a previous publication.
Tor networks are a popular solution to preserve anonymity and privacy, as well as to combat traffic analysis. Who uses Tor? Journalists, citizens sounding the alarm, dissidents and, in principle, all Internet users who do not want their behavior or interests to be monitored by third parties. Tor is used for many noble purposes, but it also attracts Dark Web users who want their activities or trading platforms to remain secret and so that they cannot be tracked.
Like VPNs, Tor networks use virtual tunnels, but unlike VPNs, these tunnels do not connect clients directly to servers. Instead, Tor clients create tunnel networks through switching points – “nodes” in the Tor network. Tor networks have three important characteristics.
None of the nodes knows the entire path between the start and end node of the tunnel network.
Each connection between network nodes is encrypted individually.
All connections are short-term in order to prevent monitoring of traffic behavior for an extended period.
Thanks to these characteristics, Tor’s private network routes make it impossible to analyze traffic and allow you to publish content without revealing your identity or location.