Acronym for The Onion Router, Tor Browser is a web browser designed to ensure an anonymous and secure online browsing experience. Read carefully: “anonymous” and not just respectful of privacy. The communication system on which Tor Browser is based, in fact, redirect traffic Internet through a series of servers distributed throughout the world. It uses an “onion” pattern (hence the name “onion“) within which each router crossed adds a further encryption level.
In another article we saw what Tor Browser is and how it works: while the incognito browsing offered by all web browsers simply avoids the local storage of resources visited on the web, Tor Browser ensures that the destination servers do not never know thepublic IP address of each user nor the data relating to his system. The navigation program, distributed as software open sourceallows you to reach any page on the public Web or limit yourself to sites onionwithout therefore ever leaving the rete Tor.
What’s new in Tor Browser 13
In a post published on the project blog, the developers announce the transition to the latest version of Firefox ESR (Extended Release Support, release 115). Tor Browser, in fact, is in turn based on the most updated version of the Mozilla browser with long-term support.
The new Tor Browser 13, in addition to some purely “cosmetic” changes (program icons, link style,…), offers a renewed home page which contains the search box of the DuckDuckGo engine. The page appears every time Tor Browser is opened and can be made to appear every time a new tab is opened, also by pressing the key combination CTRL+T.
To change this preference, just type about:preferences#home in the Tor Browser address bar then choose Home in Tor Browser also in correspondence with the drop-down menu New tabs.
The option Onionsavailable in the search box, allows you to query the search engine DuckDuckGo using exclusively the Tor network (domain .onion).
Tor Browser Windows Get Bigger: Here’s Why
In another article we talked about the fingerprinting technique: it is about the possibilities that websites and web applications have for track users, even from one work session to another, without using cookies. To assign a unique identifier to each individual user’s browser, a wide range of parameters are used, including information on the client device in use.
Il letterboxing is a technique in Tor Browser that helps protect user privacy by correctly managing window size. As part of the process by which a website or online service can identify a user based on unique features of your device or your browsing environment, the size of the windows is also an important factor.
The concept behind the letterboxingis to group such a large number of users so that they all use the same size of the Web browser window. This way it is not possible identify uniquely users who use a specific configuration.
The new Tor Browser 13 expands the concept of letterboxing best supporting modern web applications, designed to exploit large screens. Previously, Tor Browser did not allow windows larger than 1,000 pixels. Now the limit is removed by switching to 1.400 x 900 pixel.
Thanks to letterboxing the areas of the web page being viewed are increased as necessary to reach one of the predefined width-height combinations. Even with a larger Tor Browser window, user privacy is therefore equally protected.
