The Tor browser is considered one of the most private browsers around. The Tor network works through multiple nodes and allows users to hide their data as well as their location. But is it really that private and anonymous? Now, some doubts have appeared after a research report. This has forced the team behind this browser to come forward and reassure.
Specifically, it is a report of an investigation carried out in Germany and other countries. There, they claim that they are using methods to remove the anonymity of users. Basically, to be able to know who may have committed a crime, even if they are hiding through the Tor network.
Tor’s anonymity in doubt
When someone installs Tor, they are presented with the promise of an anonymous browser. Nothing like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, for example. It has certain limitations, such as a slower speed, but it allows you to maximize anonymity and privacy when browsing the web, as long as you do so within the Tor network. It allows, for example, access to the Deep Web.
Now, a research report claims that the police can carry out what is known as a timing attack. Basically, it is an attack that aims to decrypt something, such as a message. In the case of the Tor network, what they seek is to make a user stop being anonymous and to be able to know who is behind an account.
This can be a problem. We are not talking about users who actually commit crimes, but about users who simply want to browse the web and not take risks in countries where there is censorship and it is simply a crime to express yourself on social networks. Therefore, beyond the fact that it is true that it can be used by cybercriminals, there are many legitimate uses that users can give it.
This report we mentioned claims that law enforcement would be able to bypass this anonymity and identify users. If this were the case, it would logically break the entire foundation of Tor, its main objective.
From Tor they defend themselves
Following this report, the Tor project’s managers have issued a statement in which, firstly, they indicate that they have not received access to these judicial documents in order to analyse and validate the possibility that they can actually identify users. They have not been able to verify, therefore, whether there really is a possibility that anonymity is not 100%.
However, in this message they wanted to reassure users. They claim that, if true, this happened a few years ago, between 2019 and 2021. Since then, the Tor network has new security measures and, according to them, it is much more difficult for them to carry out this type of attack.
However, they have not really eliminated the doubts, at least not completely. If they were really able to undo the anonymity of some users between 2019 and 2021, why couldn’t they do it now, even if it is through another method? From RedesZone, we have mentioned on some occasions that total anonymity on the Internet does not exist. There will always be something that can identify a user.
