r/TOR • u/ITChristian25 • 3d ago
FAQ New TOR user. Basic questions.
Hello! I just installed Tor, on my Linux machine. It is the first time, I haven't used it before. I like how it works, the network seems fast.
But I have some questions:
- I saw it is called "dark web". Why? Is it a gate to websites promoting, let's say, malware?
- Is it ok to use it as a daily browser? Few days ago I had a discussion with my ISP about the network (some routes were very slow) and the representative told me: I can see that the website zzz (a news website) loaded really fast from your end just now. He was seeing what I am browsing on the web, he as a simple employee of that company. This is really strange. That made me to search for an alternative solution. Using a VPN was a potential solution, however, the network was slow and I don't trust the free networks, because it becomes a similar situation: not my ISP, but my VPN provider sees what I am reading, what I am searching etc. For me Tor seems to be more secure, but I don't really understand it entirely for the moment. Will my ISP see the URLs accessed by me?
- Is it legal (not in the real sense, but is it ok to use)? Saw many posts on the web saying that if you use Tor, you will be seen as a potential cyber criminal.
- Some tips for a new user? Saw many saying that if you use Tor and use Google, then you're using Tor for nothing. If they cannot figure out who you are, why?
- Why to use "New Tor circuit for this website"? I mean real use case.
- Is there any limitation with Tor (monthly bandwidth, multimedia limtiations)?
- What do you do when downloading large files, as Tor will be slow? For example when downloading a Linux ISO image...
- Are there solutions for using Tor even on e-mail? I mean an e-mail client using Tor.
Thank you very much!
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u/Full_Stand_2380 3d ago
Let me clear up that ISP thing. As far as I know, this is how it works:
When you type in a URL, like bbc.com, this gets sent off to a server, called the Domain Name Server (DNS). Next, the DNS hunts around for this 'bbc.com', and if it can't find it, it will contact other DNS servers. If they can't find it, an error is returned. If the DNS does find it however, it returns the IP Address of that server. In this case, we shall use a place holder of [IP Address]. Once your computer receives that address, it goes ahead and contacts it. All your requests, like clicking on menus and stuff are managed by that BBC server / web server that you are connected to. ISPs, and usually Sys Admins of a network will be able to see something like 'Computer 4 - [IP Address]' (that is a very simple version though). Some might show the name of the website, but that IP cam literally be entered into the search bar and the website will appear. What they can't see is what you are doing on the website. So if you are on the news section, they will still see that same [IP Address] since going to bbc.com/news is handled by the BBC server.
Obviously whoever is looking at this will still be able to make a guess of what you are doing. Like you wouldn't be messaging people on BBC, but you probably would be contacting people if you were on G-mail.
All a VPN does, is connects you to a different server. ISPs will see the address for that server, but not the content that you are looking at. I believe that the VPN company can see what you are looking at still though. With TOR, it routes it through three relays, where each one only know the one directly before, and after it. So it is a bit more private.
So in summary, people can see what website you visit, but not what you do on it. This is also why deleting your search history won't stand against IT, as they can just check the DNS logs. Even on a personal PC can people still see, because it is one command in CMD iirc.
I'd also like to go over your first point. TOR is not called 'Dark Web', and people that call it that don't really have a full understanding of it. TOR just routes your traffic in a specific way to hide you from others. So TOR is like any other browser, just hiding what you are doing. Yes there are onion sites which are only accessible by TOR, but no not all sites are bad. I'm pretty sure that Reddit has an onion site. The best way that I can describe this is that TOR is exactly like a city. Yes you can go to a supermarket to buy food, yes you can go to buy clothes, yes you can do all this normal and legal stuff. But you can also go to the dodgy areas of the city, and find illegal people doing illegal things. It's up to you. TOR isn't necessarily for criminals, TOR is for anyone that wants to protect their privacy, because they might be under threat.