Internet that you are able to access today constitutes of a really small part of the total web spread. In fact, despite having over a million accessible website, you can only see 4% of the total web. The rest 96% of the web is known as the deep web and you would require the help of special software to be able to access it. It is estimated that the deep web has over 500 million onion sites live with another smaller and darker part of it housing criminal activities known as the dark web. To be able to access the deep or dark web, you would require to install Tor Browser on your device. However, since deep web is off the charts for people, some of them have doubts on the safety of Tor Browser. The questions most people are asking is tor browser safe? How to use it to access the deep web? All the answers you need to know are provided below.
What is Tor Browser?
The Deep web is not accessible using a normal web browser. Instead, you need a special browser named the Tor Browser to access the deep web. The Tor Browser helps to maintain your anonymity on the deep web by hiding your identity and online data. Originally, the Tor Browser was developed by a Non-Profit organization Tor Project but is now backed by the Government of the United States of America. They provide the organization with funding to keep the Tor Browser updated and live. We should look at the history of Tor Browser before answering the question – is tor browser safe?
History of Tor Browser
The web browser was first developed and launched by DARPA in 1997 under the name, Onion Routing. However, it was world renowned scientists, Syverson, Dingledine and Mathewson who took control of the project, further develop it into a safe working browser and named it the Tor Browser in 2002. The Tor Browser is backed by the Govt. of USA now which shares the same motto of promoting anonymity over the internet and that is why they fund the project. Next, we take a look on -is tor browser safe?
Is Tor Browser Safe to browse?
Deep web is not accessible as a part of regular web because of a number of unsafe web links and webpages available in that part of the internet. Your personal information could be leaked, your bank account details could be hacked and more.The Dark web comprises of even darker content with a number of illicit activities taking place such as Weapon trading, drug trafficking, hiring of murderers, kidnappers, match fixing and more. This is why it is very important that the browser you use is safe to access the deep web and ensures that none of your personal data is ever leaked online.
The Problems in the Tor Browser
While we have already told you the answer to the questions – Is Tor browser safe, you need to make sure that you are using the right personalized settings on your Tor Browser. Browsing on the Deep web without right settings can make you vulnerable to data leak, malware and virus attacks. You need to ensure that the Java Script settings that are present on Tor Browser are turned off because if it is turned on, it can seriously undermine your data security.
For you to switch off the JavaScript settings, do the following things:
- Go to about:config on a new tab on the Tor Browser.
- Scroll down till you find the JavaScript option.
- Search for the JavaScript.enabled option.
- Turn it from On to off to disable it.
With JavaScript disable on the Tor Browser, it will be safe for you to browse the deep web using the Tor Browser without the fear of getting your personal data leak. Also ensure that other browser scripts are turned off as well. You can also click on ‘S’ on the top left corner of the Tor Browser and click on “Forbid Scripts Globally” to switch off all malicious scripts from the browser.
The Final Say
As we told earlier, the Dark Web is not a safe place to visit. Besides housing a number of criminal activities, a number of unsafe websites also make you vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Therefore, you have to ensure your safety while browsing the deep or dark web. To answer your question – “is tor browser safe?”Yes, Tor Browser is very safe to use or access deep web but you need to ensure that correct configurations are live on the browser, you have Java Scripts disabled on the browser, and the website links you are using are from a verified hidden Wiki Directories. Opening unsafe webpages can also make you vulnerable to malware attacks in spite of having all possible safety measures.