Protecting Online Anonymity

Tor is free software enabling online anonymity. It directs Internet traffic through a network of Tor routers all over the world. Its goal is to conceal a user’s location or circumventing network surveillance or traffic analysis.

Note - The debate about whether to use Tor or not is a very touchy subject. Please get yourself well informed about why to use Tor and how to use it right. We have pointed out some reasons and techniques over here: Why use Tor?

The IPFire Tor Add-on enables you to run Tor in two flavours: You can use it as a Tor client to enable systems on your local network to connect to the Tor network very easily by using the built-in SOCKS proxy. You may also run Tor as an internal member of the Tor network (relay), which supports the Tor network and makes it stronger and faster.

Using Tor as a client for the Tor network

If you want to use the Tor network to safely to connect to other resources (circumventing surveillance and censorship), configure the IPFire Tor add-on as a client for the Tor network:

Running a Tor relay

Becoming a Tor relay adds your network connection to the global Tor network. In the basic mode (Relay only), your IPFire router will receive packets from other relays and forward them to other relays. It is this chain of relays which allows the Tor network to hide the source of the packet. The data is encrypted, so that nobody on the path towards the destination may intercept any data.

You are encouraged to operate a Tor relay, if you can afford to share your connections' bandwidth. That's all you need to help to make the Tor network more stable, more secure and faster. You will help people in countries all over the world to anonymously communicate with each other, circumventing censorship, surveillance and traffic analysis.

A Tor relay can operate in many different ways, from a simple member (Relay only) to a full Exit-Node. It is very important you read about these modes before setting using your router as a Tor relay. Be sure to read the section Running a Tor Relay (below) before deciding which type of relay you want to make available to the Tor network.