Tor. Are you sure you know everything about where users have access to your digital environment?
While browsing the Internet is generally safe, there are some instances where you may be inadvertently participating in criminal activity. This happens when users hide their activity via the Tor network or the Dark Net.
The Onion Router, more commonly known as Tor, is an open source project that first appeared in 2002. It is designed to allow a user to browse the internet anonymously through a volunteer network of over 5,000 connections.
Tor: how to protect your digital environment
It does not share identifying information such as IP address and location with websites or other service providers.
A user who navigates the Internet using the popular browser dramatically reduces the chances of their activities being tracked, thus ensuring the online protection of their personal data. And here are the undoubtedly legitimate uses of this technology, such as providing Internet access in countries with repressive regulations.
Tor has long been a favorite target of intelligence agencies. The NSA targeted users of the popular browser, using a zero-day vulnerability in Firefox combined with Tor, which ultimately gave access to the hidden IP addresses of anonymous users.
Using similar techniques, the FBI was able to track down the owner of “Freedom Hosting,” the largest site service provider on the encrypted network, which also hosts many child pornography.
Precisely because Tor is so often associated with illegal activities (child pornography, money laundering, identity theft, drug trafficking, etc.) many administrators want to prevent their users from using it.
Since the point of origin is almost impossible to detect by conventional means, it is used by a multitude of bad actors who wish to hide their location from Command & Control servers, machines that accept ransomware payments, etc., which makes it even more difficult to detect them.
Tor-connected users from your environment (whether they are carrying out illegal activities or not) may "make" you unknowingly host malicious and illegal content.
