Chapter 4 – Advanced Browsers

Chapter 4 – Advanced Browsers
Here I will explain how Tor, and I2P work as well as some use cases for them.

Tor – Mission statement: “To advance human rights and freedoms by creating and deploying free and open source anonymity and privacy technologies, supporting their unrestricted availability and use, and furthering their scientific and popular understanding.”
How it works, Tor is a network of virtual tunnels that allows you to improve your privacy and security on the Internet. Tor works by sending your traffic through three random servers (also known as relays) in the Tor network. The last relay in the circuit (the “exit relay”) then sends the traffic out onto the public Internet if you connect to a clear net site, using Onion links avoids the exit node. Using the Tor network is much slower than your average browser as your internet traffic has to jump through many hoops to get to its destination and back, But that does make it a Very secure tool. People allover the world use it as a means to escape censorship, and share information freely.

once you have installed and ran it (connected) you will want to go and change the privacy setting from standard to safest (safest is what you want when using tor, but some of these sites like Proton will not work on safest) Never lower the security for a site you don’t trust, over 99% of the time you will want to be on safest. Use case, as stated this may not be best as a daily browser. Many websites do not like that you are on the Tor network, because they can not monetize your data. No one wants information that someone in the world visited their site that doesn’t help them use targeted advertising to get more sales. If their website works at all it will prompt for many captchas. I would not attempt any kind of streaming service on it. But you can search things up that you don’t want linked back to you(Great tool for anonymity), such as airplane ticket costs, train ticket costs. Medical symptoms. It is a good place to create and access an email you do not need/want linked back to you. ( that is assuming you only access it through tor and do not use it to sign up for any site you are already giving all your info too, this goes for most sites.) You can also use it on sites that have an onion link such as facebook or protonmail. You want to be careful when using onion sites as just like normal websites they have many copycats. You will also want to enable prioritize onion site which will auto load the onion link of a website if it has one. If you make social media accounts on here all the ones iv seen work, but have been known to delete the account or ban it due to how most platforms have their anti spam /anti bot accounts set up. Every time you connect to the network you will have a new IP and that may cause them to flag/delete your profile.

Here are some trusted onion sites
• The New York times https://www.nytimesn7cgmftshazwhfgzm37qxb44r64ytbb2dj3x62d2lljsciiyd.onion/
• CIA’s onion site - http://ciadotgov4sjwlzihbbgxnqg3xiyrg7so2r2o3lt5wz5ypk4sxyjstad.onion/
• protonmail - https://protonmailrmez3lotccipshtkleegetolb73fuirgj7r4o4vfu7ozyd.onion/
• Mullvad - http://o54hon2e2vj6c7m3aqqu6uyece65by3vgoxxhlqlsvkmacw6a7m7kiad.onion/en
• duckduckgo - https://duckduckgogg42xjoc72x3sjasowoarfbgcmvfimaftt6twagswzczad.onion/
• privatealps - http://4wfsdhkbrdt6jwlozcmw2lzthoghgdrt3pty2vfre2ysdguvpazwfjad.onion/

Final notes on Tor,
It is recommended that when using Tor you have no other browsers open, and if possible no other apps open as many do reach out to the internet. Tor is fine to use without a vpn and is most likely allowed where you are if you are currently reading this. That being said your ISP seeing that you are connecting to Tor may be something you do not want. Under the VPN section I will list how to use both together.

I2P (Invisible Internet Project) – Mission statement: The Invisible Internet Project began in 2002. The vision for the project, as described in an interview with Lance James was for the I2P Network "to deliver full anonymity, privacy, and security at the highest level possible. Decentralized and peer to peer Internet means no more worrying about your ISP controlling your traffic. This will allow (people) to do seamless activities and change the way we look at security and even the Internet, utilizing public key cryptography, IP stenography, and message authentication. The Internet that should have been, will be soon." Since then I2P has evolved to specify and implement a complete suite of network protocols capable of delivering a high level of privacy, security, and authentication to a variety of applications.
I2P is a peer-to-peer (P2P) anonymous network, which protects you from censorship, government surveillance, and online monitoring. It scatters your traffic so there is a low chance that a third-party will be able to intercept it.
By using I2P you can also get an encrypted entrance to the dark web. In a way it serves a similar purpose to the Tor network, but there are also some differences between the two. You can also use it for general browsing, instant messaging, file storing, and website hosting.
is very popular as it is really good at circumventing censorship. It has gained in popularity ever since Tor had some very strong ddos attacks on the network happen. It is also a bit more complicated to use, Here is Ai telling me how it works, “I2P is like a secret club where you can talk to your friends without anyone else listening in. When you use I2P, your computer connects to other computers in the club, and you can send messages and share files with them. But because it's a secret club, no one else can see what you're doing. Peer-to-peer means that you and your friends are all equal in the club - no one is in charge. You can all talk to each other and share things with each other. It's like if you and your friends all brought your own toys to play with, and you could all share them with each other.”

Here is how it works - The network is made up of peers ("routers") and unidirectional inbound and outbound virtual tunnels. Routers communicate with each other using protocols built on existing transport mechanisms (TCP, UDP), passing messages. Client applications have their own cryptographic identifier ("Destination") which enables it to send and receive messages. These clients can connect to any router and authorize the temporary allocation of some tunnels that will be used for sending and receiving messages through the network. I2P has its own internal network database for distributing routing and contact information securely.
I2P also has an email service built in, if you open a new tab and select the bookmart labeled I2P Toolbar, you will see a webmail link, a great thing to have to connect and chat with people also on I2P but can also be used to send emails outside the network (do not put any identifying information on or in this email service)Use case, you might want to communicate with other people privately, such as sending messages or sharing files. Some people also use I2P to access websites that are only available within the I2P network, which can be useful for sharing information or connecting with others who value privacy and security. You can also access “clearnet” sites if you use it in private browsing mode, best use is for those i2p sites that allow you to find and communicate with like minded people as well as avoid trackers, censorship, and privacy invasion.