Tor Browser is a web browser based on Mozilla Firefox but configured to protect your privacy.

Sending your connections to websites through the Tor network is not enough to totally protect you while browsing the web:

This is why Tor Browser integrates all kinds of security protections inside the browser as well.

Algumas perguntas frequentes sobre o Tor Browser podem ser encontradas na FAQ.

Proxy server refusing connections

The following error message in Tor Browser means that Tails is not yet connected to the Tor network:

The proxy server is refusing connections

Make sure that you are:

  1. Connected to a local network

  2. Connected to the Tor network

AppArmor confinement, downloading, and uploading files

Tor Browser can only read and write to the following folders:

  • Documents - Downloads - Music - Pictures - Videos - Tor Browser - Persistent/Tor Browser, if you have a Persistent Storage

This is because, in Tails, Tor Browser is confined using AppArmor to protect your files from some types of attacks against Tor Browser.

For example, thanks to this confinement, even if an attacker manages to exploit a security vulnerability in Tor Browser, they wouldn't be able to access all the content of your Persistent Storage.

This is why you get the following error if you try to download files to another folder:

Could not read the contents of folder.

Error opening directory folder: Permission denied

  • If you want to download a file from Tor Browser, save it to one of these folders.

  • If you want to upload a file from Tor Browser, copy it first to one of these folders.

To prevent Tails from running out of memory and crashing, download very big files to the Persistent/Tor Browser folder. All the files that you download outside of the Persistent Storage are stored in memory (RAM), which is more limited.

Hiding that you are using Tor Browser

It is impossible to hide to the websites that you visit that you are using Tor, because the list of exit nodes of the Tor network is public.

That is why many more websites ask you to solve a CAPTCHA when using Tor Browser.

The anonymity provided by Tor Browser works by making all users look the same to make it impossible to know who is who among the millions of users of Tor Browser.

Tails tries to make it as difficult as possible for websites to distinguish Tails users from other users of Tor Browser. If it was possible for a website to determine whether you are a user of Tor Browser inside or outside of Tails, this would provide a little bit more information about you and reduce your anonymity.

The websites that you visit can retrieve a lot of information about your browser, whether it's Tor Browser or a regular browser. This information is called the fingerprint of the browser and includes the name and version of the browser, the size of the window, the time zone, the available fonts, etc.

To make it difficult to distinguish Tails users from other users of Tor Browser, Tor Browser in Tails tries to provide the same information as Tor Browser on other operating systems.

A difference is that Tails includes the uBlock Origin extension, which removes advertisements. If an attacker can determine that you are not downloading the advertisements that are included in a webpage, that could reveal that you are a Tails user.

HTTPS encryption with HTTPS Everywhere

Using HTTPS instead of HTTP encrypts your communications with the website and prevents the Tor exit node from intercepting your communications.

Por exemplo, aqui está a aparência do navegador quando vamos nos autenticar numa conta de email do riseup.net, usando sua interface webmail:

Observe o ícone do cadeado na esquerda da barra de endereço contendo "mail.riseup.net". Observe, também, que o endereço começa por "https://" (em vez de "http://"). Estes são indicadores de que está sendo usada uma conexão encriptada usando HTTPS.

Quando você está enviando ou recebendo informações confidenciais (como senhas), você deve tentar usar apenas serviços que fornecem HTTPS. Caso contrário, fica muito fácil para alguém infiltrado roubar qualquer informação que esteja sendo enviada, ou modificar o conteúdo de uma página no caminho para o navegador.

O HTTPS Everywhere é uma extensão do Firefox incluída no Tor Browser. É produzida numa colaboração entre o Projeto Tor e a Electronic Frontier Foundation. Ele encripta suas comunicações com vários sítios importantes da web. Muitos sítios da web oferecem algum suporte limitado a encriptação sobre HTTPS, mas tornam isso difícil de ser usado. Por exemplo, o padrão pode ser HTTP não encriptado, ou encher a página encriptada com ligações que retornam para o sítio não encriptado. A extensão HTTPS Everywhere resolve estes problemas reescrevendo todas as requisições para estes sítios usando HTTPS.

Para aprender mais sobre o HTTPS Everywhere, você pode ver:

Protection against dangerous JavaScript

A desativação de todo o JavaScript por padrão desativaria muitos JavaScript inofensivos e possivelmente úteis, além de tornar muitos sítios não utilizáveis.

Este é o motivo pelo qual o JavaScript é habilitado por padrão, mas o Navegador Tor desativa todo JavaScript potencialmente perigoso. Consideramos isso como sendo um compromisso necessário entre segurança e usabilidade.

To understand better the behavior of Tor Browser, for example, regarding JavaScript and cookies, you can refer to the Tor Browser design document.

Security level

Você pode mudar o nível de segurança do Navegador Tor para desativar funcionalidades do navegador como um compromisso entre segurança e usabilidade. Por exemplo, você pode definir o nível de segurança como Segurança máxima para desativar completamente o JavaScript.

O nível de segurança é definido como Padrão por padrão, o que proporciona a experiência mais utilizável.

To change the security level, click on the icon on the right of the address bar and choose Settings….

You can safely disregard the message, "Your browser is being managed by your organization," which appears in the Tor Browser preferences.

All this message means is that the automatic updates feature of Tor Browser has been disabled. This is done intentionally in Tails to make sure that no security feature or configuration gets broken by automatic updates of Tor Browser.

Tor circuit

Click on the padlock in the address bar to show the Tor circuit that is used to connect to the website in the current tab, its 3 relays, their countries, and IP addresses.

O último relé do circuito, aquele imediatamente acima do sítio de destino, é o relé de saída. Seu país pode influenciar como o sítio de comporta.

Click on the New Circuit for this Site button to use a different circuit.

You can use Onion Circuits to get more detailed information about the circuits being used.

New Identity feature

To switch to a new identity, choose  ▸ New identity.

The New Identity feature of Tor Browser:

  • Closes all open tabs.

  • Clears the session state including cache, history, and cookies.

  • Closes all existing web connections and creates new Tor circuits.

This feature is not enough to strongly separate contextual identities as the Tor circuits used ouside of Tor Browser are not changed.

Em vez disso reinicie o Tails.

For more details, see the design and implementation of the Tor Browser.

NoScript to have even more control over JavaScript

O Navegador Tor inclui a extensão NoScript para:

  • Proteger contra mais ataques de JavaScript. Por exemplo, ataques cross-site scripting (XSS).

  • Allow you to disable JavaScript completely on some websites only.

Para mais informações, você pode consultar o sítio na web e as funcionalidades do NoScript.

Letterboxing

The letterboxing feature of Tor Browser helps to prevent websites from identifying your browser based on the size of its window. Without letterboxing, websites could use the size of the browser window to track visitors or weaken your anonymity.

The letterboxing feature of Tor Browser works by adding gray margins to the browser window when the window is resized. The webpage remains as close as possible to the desired size without revealing the actual size of the window.