Never Use Tor with a VPN
dont use a free vpn ether
VPN doesn’t help or hurt Tor browser, and VPN helps protect all of the non-Tor traffic (services, cron jobs, other apps) coming out of your system while you’re using Tor browser (and after you stop using Tor browser). Using a VPN and letting the VPN company see some info is better than letting your ISP see the same info. So leave the VPN running 24/365, even while you’re using Tor. [PS: I’m talking about running TB in a normal OS; Tails is a different situation.]
That said, neither VPN nor Tor/onion are magic silver bullets that make you safe and anonymous. VPN mainly protects your traffic from other devices on same LAN, from router, and from ISP. Tor/onion does same, but only for Tor browser traffic; also adds more hops to make it harder to trace back from the destination server to your original IP address, and also mostly forces you into using good browser settings. Both VPN and Tor/onion really protect only the data in motion; if the data content reveals your private info, the destination server gets your private info.
My ears are bleeding now.
It’s 2020, and our Tor knowledge and tech savviness has gone backwards.
With how shackled the internet is getting, and how desperate some attacks can be, it’s fear of the unknown such as this that scares the rest of the village from trusting the benefactor.
At the end of the day, someone will have your info, an attacker, your ISP, your country, your VPN, it is up to you who it is.
It’s a dark day for the internet indeed
I use AirVPN, with their Eddie client and use network lock. I then use the tor client as normal.
I would love to try to understand this video but the narrator needs to speak English. His Michael Cain With A Helium Balloon accent is impenetrable.
Hmm… maybe we could use poorly annunciated Cockney as a method for encrypting phone conversations.
I’ve read countless articles and watched countless videos on this.
There is arguments on both sides. In all honesty it doesn’t matter either way. If big brother wants to find you they will regardless, especially if you are browsing from home on a device you use often.
If you are using a device not at home and you try to keep it separated from your “norm” chances are you will slip up eventually, then all that time and effort trying to hide just leaked.
I agree, the video is mostly irrelevant, using tor over vpn is a very good idea imo.
the idea is that the VPN provider doesn’t keep logs like your ISP
No, the reason letting a VPN see your traffic instead of letting the ISP see it is that the ISP knows far more about you. ISP knows your location, almost certainly your name and phone number, probably sees your phone and TV traffic. You can give all fake info to a VPN, as long as your payment mechanism works. You can’t be sure that neither your VPN nor ISP does logging. But the ISP knows far more about you, so better to use a VPN.
I prefer my ISP knowing I am using a VPN rather than TOR.
You’re assuming that VPNs do not keep logs.
The best case scenario is that VPNs with Tor are pointless, the worst case is that they are keeping logs or even compromised.
Many reputable VPNs have both a paid tier and a free tier. But don’t trust any VPN (or ISP); give fake info as much as possible, use HTTPS, etc.
Paid VPN leave a money trail. So use a bridge.
so what about tails? I was thinking about tails>vpn>tor? ( i know they say to don’t use tails with vpn but maybe u see some benefits of it)
I think the problem with this forum specifically is that it comprises mostly of edgy, young people who have no real background in security (or at the very least are in the very early days of their journey). I’m not sure whether or not that represents the overall trends of technical know-how or not but I like to think it doesn’t.
Then you have just created a fixed guard.
I am fucking speaking English, you twat.
VPNs count as the same in theos countries.
It even says it on their own wiki that you should “Never use a VPN unless you know what you’re doing”.
False. It says “You can very well decrease your anonymity by using VPN/SSH in addition to Tor. (Proxies are covered in an extra chapter below.) If you know what you are doing you can increase anonymity, security and privacy.” TorPlusVPN · Wiki · Legacy / Trac · GitLab
All you need to know is: Run the VPN first, then when you want to use Tor browser, leave the VPN running while you use TB. Done.
Tor in itself acts like a really complicated VPN so using another service is utterly useless and will probably break your security.
Tor Browser routes only your Tor Browser traffic through the onion network. Other apps and services in your system are doing plenty of traffic, and you want that traffic protected too. Run a VPN 24/365, and then also run TB when you want to use TB to browse.