Tor as a proxy server. Setting up Tor correctly
TOR browser is perhaps the simplest and most accessible way to connect to the Internet anonymously. Now we will talk about how to set up the TOR browser on your computer, as well as where to download it and how to install it.
Step No. 1. Download the TOR browser.
TOR Browser is a free browser based on Firefox. You can download it from the official website of the developer. To do this, you need to go to the website, select a language and click on the “Download” button. After which the installation files will begin downloading.
By default, the site will offer to download the version of the TOP browser that is suitable for your operating system. If you want to download a version for another OS, you can do so.
Step No. 2. Installing the TOR browser.
At the TOP installation stage, the browser does not require any additional configuration. Everything happens automatically, you just need to follow the instructions that will appear on the screen. So first you need to select your browser language.
And then the folder in which the TOR browser will be installed.
After that, all you have to do is wait until the installation is completed.
Step No. 3. Launch and configure the Tor browser.
After launching the TOR browser, a window called “TOR Network Settings” will appear in front of you.
There are two buttons available here: Connect and Configure. If you click on the “Connect” button, the TOP browser will start working with standard settings. This option is suitable for most cases.
The “Configure” button will start manual configuration of the TOP browser. This option may be useful if you connect to the Internet through a proxy server or if your Internet provider blocks the TOR network. First of all, the TOR browser will first ask whether your Internet provider is blocking the TOR network. If there are no problems connecting to the TOR network or you don’t know for sure, then select the “NO” option.
If you select “Yes”, the TOR browser will offer to configure bridges. A bridge is a point in the TOR network whose address is not published in the TOR documentation. You can download the list of bridges on the website.
After setting up TOP bridges, the browser will prompt you to configure an Internet connection through a proxy server. If you connect to the Internet directly (without using a proxy server), then you need to select the “NO” option here.
If a proxy server is used to connect to the Internet, then you need to select the “YES” option and configure the connections. TOR browser will ask you to select the type of proxy server, its IP address, as well as other proxy-related settings.
After setting up the proxy server, you just need to click on the connect button and the TOR browser will connect to the Internet through the TOR network.
Step No. 4. Checking the TOR browser settings.
If you have configured the TOP browser correctly, the following message should appear on the screen: “Congratulations! This browser is configured to use TOR."
If the inscription appeared on the screen: “Alas. You are not currently using TOR”, this means that there is something wrong with the TOR browser settings and it was not possible to connect to the TOR network. In this case, you can click on the onion button and select “TOR Network Settings” or simply press the S key on your keyboard.
After which you can re-configure the TOR browser.
Step No. 5. Change the IP address in the TOP browser.
Immediately after connecting to the Internet through the TOR network, you receive a new IP address. But, if necessary, this address can be changed. To do this, you need to click on the button in the form of an onion and select the menu item “New TOR chain for this site.”
After which the page will be updated and you will receive a new IP address. You can check how this works on any website to check the IP address, for example, you can use the website.
A lot of time has passed. And the situation in RuNet with government regulation has only worsened. Many sites are blocked en masse for a variety of reasons and even simply “by mistake” (because they were on the same IP with “suspicious sites”). Therefore, various types have become more in demand than ever. Interest in . After our last article, readers began to receive questions about help setting up Tor.
Questions of this nature:
1) How to work through Tor using any Internet browsers (not just a special Tor browser)?
2) How to torify any applications (for example, Skype, ICQ, etc.)
3) What should I do if my Internet Service Provider (ISP) blocks access to Tor?
We will try to answer all these questions using clear examples. To torify all (or almost all of our Internet traffic) a standard package is not suitable for us Tor Brouser Bundle which is unpacked onto your desktop or flash drive and includes already configured Tor and a special browser.
We need to install the "stationary version" on the operating system, this is the package Vidalia-bundle(it includes: Vidalia, Tor).
We install it on the system (see our article), then upon first launch we will immediately set the settings for work:
Fig.1. Tor Settings - "Exchange2
Fig.2. Tor Settings - "Network"
1) Now we begin to configure our working browsers for anonymous work viaTor.
Setting it upInternetExplorer:
In Windows 7, to do this, go to the options “Control Panel – Network and Internet – Internet Options – Connections – Network Settings – Configuring Local Network Settings”, check the box "Proxy server" open a tab "Additionally", we'll put it there clause 4. Socks: 127.0.0.1:9050
See screenshots (3,4,5).
Rice. 4. Proxy server
Fig.5. Socks5
That's it, our IE works through Tor.
Setting it upGoogle Chrome:
Google Chrome should be the "default browser" on your operating system. Then see fig. 6:
Rice. 6. Proxy server settings
After you click on the button “Change procti server settings” You will see the already familiar Internet browser settings tabs. See screenshots (3,4,5). If you completed the previous step correctly ( Setting up Internet Explorer), then Google Chrome also works for you through the Tor network.
Setting up the browserOpera:
To do this, go to the point “Settings – Advanced – Network – Proxy servers.”
Check the box Socks: (and enter the following data there) 127.0.0.1:9050
See screenshots 7 and 8.
Setting up the Mozilla Firefox browser:
For this we need Foxy Proxy Basic plugin, which we will install in the section "Extensions", see fig. 9:
Then, when the plugin is installed, select the mode "Tor proxy for all addresses"(see Fig. 10)
Rice. 10. Select Tor for all addresses
and set up the settings as in Fig. eleven
That’s it, now there will be no more “forbidden sites” left for you...
You can check your “new” IP address through the website http://2ip.ru
When you work through the Tor network, your address will be different from the one you received from your ISP.
2) Let's torifySkype,ICQ,µTorrent:
To toriff Skype, go to “Settings – Connections”, select the SOCKS5 tab, enter 127.0.0.1:9050
See fig. 12:
The same settings must be made for ICQ.
For torrent client µTorrent:
Let's go to "Settings - Connections" and set the settings as in screenshot 13:
That's it, you can safely work with torrents.
3) Well, the most difficult question. What to do if your Internet provider (ISP) blocks access toTor?
But for this case we downloaded the distribution kit Vidalia Bridge Bundle (for Windows 8, 7, Vista, and XP), This is a package for accessing the Tor network through a so-called "bridge".
See screenshot 14:
Let's briefly explain how it all works.
What does the term “bridge type repeaters” mean?
Some internet service providers attempt to prevent users from accessing the Tor network by blocking connections to known Tor relays. Bridge relays (or bridges for short) help such blocked users gain access to the Tor network. Unlike other Tor relays, bridges are not listed in public directories as regular relays. Since there is no complete public list, even if your ISP filters connections to all known Tor relays, it is unlikely that it will be able to block all bridges.
How to find bridge type repeaters?
There are two main ways to find out the address of bridges:
A) Ask friends to organize private bridges for you;
B) Use public bridges.
To use private bridges, ask friends to launch Vidalia and Tor from an unblocked area of the Internet and click "Help Blocked Users" in the Vidalia "Relay Setup Page". They should then send you the “Bridge Address” (the line at the bottom of their relay page).
Unlike the operation of a regular relay, a relay in bridge mode simply transmits and receives data from the Tor network, so you should not complain about any violations to the operator.
You can find public addresses for bridges by visiting https://bridges.torproject.org. The answers on this page change every few days, so check back periodically if you need more bridge addresses. Another way to find public bridge addresses is to send an email to [email protected]
For a long time I didn’t feel the need to bypass the great and terrible registry of blocked sites, but now trouble has come to me - my favorite provider has cut the hell out of Lostfilm. On this occasion, today I will tell you how to set up Tor as a proxy and use it in conjunction with Chrome (the choice of browser is not important).
I will look at two cases and start with the simpler and more ordinary one.
Setting up a proxy on a local Windows computer
If we just have a computer with Windows, then first of all we go here: https://www.torproject.org/download/download.html.en, expand the section Microsoft Windows and download Vidalia Relay Bundle. After installation and launch, the following window will appear:
Uncheck the box Show this window on startup, then press the button Settings and go to the tab Sharing:
Select an option Run as client only, if we don’t want to pass other people’s traffic through ourselves to increase the overall speed of the tor network. OK
In the main window, click Hide to minimize the program to tray. When you restart Windows, Thor starts automatically. Let's move on to setting up the browser.
Setting up a browser using Google Chrome as an example
Go to settings:
On the first tab, enter the proxy name, for example Local Tor:
On the second tab enter:
Host IP Address: 127.0.0.1
SOCKS Proxy: check the box
SOCKS v4/v4a: select
Let's go to the third tab, here we will add sites that need to be accessed through a proxy.
Click Add new pattern. Let's add lostfilm.
Pattern name: LostLilm
URL pattern: *lostfilm.tv*
(Ordinary masks are used for patterns, so recording *lostfilm.tv* means all links in which the site address appears.)
Click Save in the pattern editing window, then again in the window Proxy Settings. Now except Default Proxy we have ours - Local Tor.
Now, when you try to access Lostfilm, foxyproxy will automatically force the browser to use our tor and we are no longer afraid of any registry.
In order to add other sites, you need to edit the created proxy - Local Tor by going to the third tab and adding new pattern.
Setting up TOR on a separate computer to proxy several home computers
This part is not for everyone, but since I have 2 computers at home and a free nettop, I decided - why not use the latter as a proxy? I deployed a virtualization platform on it, inside which I made a virtual machine, but this is not at all important - we will assume that it is just a separate computer.
First of all, I downloaded Ubuntu 14.04 there in a minimal server configuration. Next I installed the torus and additional proxies:
apt- get install tor tor- geoipdb privoxy
I backup the proxy config and create a new one
mv / etc/ privoxy/ config / etc/ privoxy/ config. backup vi /etc/privoxy/config
I write in the config: |
Restarting the proxy
/etc/init. d/privoxy restart
Done, now all that remains is to configure the browser. The setting is identical to that already described, the only difference is the setting of the proxy itself.
The Tor browser is one of the best life-saving tools in our Orwellian world. Have you ever wondered why you receive offers in your email that you Googled earlier? Why does the advertising on websites appear exactly the one you needed? The fact is that modern browsers save your request history and, accordingly, your user preferences. That is, any advertising network already knows what you want - it is the request history that helps it with this.
Well, let’s not forget about scammers or the government - although these are different “structures,” they still have the same goal: to find the “weak” link, identify personal information about you and use it for their own purposes.
If you are tired of this total surveillance, if you want to surf sites on the Internet in complete anonymity, then you need to use the Tor browser and also purchase a couple of proxy servers. Anyway, let's talk about it.
Tor browser - what is it?
The Tor browser is a unique browser that supports proxy server technology. In general, every browser supports such technology, but it is here that the user visits sites and downloads in complete anonymity.
This is achieved by a huge network of encrypted communication nodes. Typically, there are three nodes registered at different locations. In fact, even the authors of Tor do not know which communication nodes this or that client uses, since each time a new IP address is used.
From a security point of view, this browser really provides complete and multifunctional protection. With it you can:
- create websites without advertising your (and their) location;
- download files, surf websites without leaving any traces;
- use electronic payment systems without the risk of hacking and theft of your personal data;
- access sites that are blocked in your country.
Why do we need proxies for Tor?
So, we found out that Tor is an excellent and wonderful tool that gives us complete anonymity through its own proxy servers. However, there are a couple of problems here: 1 – low speed, 2 – blocking by the site administration.
The first is due to the fact that too much load is placed on the general network of servers. Just try installing some VPN in your browser. Immediately after you go to YouTube, for example, you will feel the difference - the video will slow down ungodly. All this is due to the extended communication channel: your PC needs to send a signal to some Dutch server and receive a response, and this will take a lot of time.
The second problem is due to the popularity of the program; nevertheless, not only you and I know about the Torah. The administration of many sites simply blocks those visitors who use this browser.
In general, Thor is certainly suitable for our studies, but these two problems are quite serious. How to solve them? That's right - by purchasing your own proxy servers.
We can purchase, for example, Russian IP addresses, put them in the browser and enjoy comfortable work. You may think that in this case there is no point in Thor, but, firstly, it is an incredibly convenient browser, which is an improved version of Firefox, and, secondly, with the help of separate proxies you can work safely on the network, hiding behind someone else’s IP. At the same time, you will not experience any need for additional speed.
What proxies are suitable for this browser?
In fact, any. You can use HTTP or SOCKS protocols - you can purchase IPv4 browsers and install them in the program settings.
Download Tor Browser only from the official website torproject.org.
Be careful! There are sites that imitate the Tor project site. For example, the website torprojectS.org (with an S added at the end) is trying to install a Trojan on your computer. DO NOT download Tor Browser from third party sites.
By the way, Tor Browser is based on the Mozilla Firefox browser, since it is the only browser that can independently work with a Socks connection without the participation of the operating system.
After installation, Tor Browser is completely ready to use. Below is a screenshot from the official website.
- do not install additional plugins, as there is a possibility of installing a plugin that will give out your real location. All necessary plugins for anonymity are already installed.
- Do not open documents (such as PDF and DOC) downloaded in the Tor Browser while you are online. Such files may have macros embedded that will request Internet access directly through the program, bypassing the Tor network. This will compromise your real IP address.
- Do not download torrents on the Tor network, as this will increase the load on the network. Torrent programs are designed in such a way that they always access the Internet directly and do not take into account proxy settings. This may compromise your real IP address.
- always use https connection. This connection will ensure the security of data transfer.
For security settings, click Security Settings.
Set the security level:
- Low (default) – standard security level.
- Medium – Javascript is blocked on sites that do not support https. HTML5 video and audio launched with a click via the NoScript plugin
- High – Javascript is blocked on all websites. HTML5 video and audio are launched with a click through the NoScript plugin. Some types of pictures, fonts and icons are prohibited from downloading
Suitable for most users. Websites open correctly and nothing is blocked.
Since most of the websites use Javascript, therefore browsing websites in High mode is problematic as some of the content is hidden. We recommend this mode when you need to read an article on a website, but you do not need to log in to the site.
Tor Browser is ready to use and you can immediately start surfing anonymously.
Remember that with this setup, only the Tor Browser uses the Tor network. All other programs use a direct connection to the Internet and transmit your real IP address.
What to do with programs that cannot work directly with the Socks protocol? For example, email clients, other browsers, instant messaging programs, etc. We recommend using Proxifier to redirect traffic from such programs to the Tor network.
Setting up Proxifier over the Tor network
The Proxifier program can:
- redirect traffic from all operating system programs through a proxy (including email clients, all browsers, instant messaging programs)
- create proxy chains
- use a DNS server from a proxy, hiding the real DNS of the ISP
- supports http and socks proxy
Home page of the official Proxifier website.
Install the Proxifier program. This program can collect all operating system traffic and pass it through a specific proxy server.
To configure Proxifier, you need to know the Tor network port being used. Go to the Preferences section of the Tor Browser.
Select the Network Settings section.
Look at the used local IP address and connection port of the Tor network. This data must be inserted into the Proxifier program so that all operating system traffic passes through the Tor network. In our example, 127.0.0.1 and port 9150.
Launch the Proxifier program.
ATTENTION! It is important to first launch Tor Browser and wait until the main window appears. And only after that launch the Proxifier program.
Click on the Proxies button.
Click the Add button.
Enter the IP address and port. In our example: 127.0.0.1 and port 9150.
Select Yes - you agree to use this proxy by default.
Open any browser or email program. In Proxifier you will see a list of connections via the Tor network. In any browser, you can check your IP address and make sure that the IP address from the Tor network will be displayed, and not your real IP address.
If something does not work, then close Tor Browser and Proxifier. And then launch Tor Browser and wait for the main window to appear. Only then run Proxifier. There is no need to make any additional settings. All traffic will automatically go through the Tor network. Close Proxifier to get your real IP address back.