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+--- Thread: Stop "privacy-hardening" your Firefox (or Chrome!?), and just use TOR Browser instead (/Thread-Stop-privacy-hardening-your-Firefox-or-Chrome-and-just-use-TOR-Browser-instead)
Stop "privacy-hardening" your Firefox (or Chrome!?), and just use TOR Browser instead - Slingshot - 06-23-2018
I see many people going to websites such as privacytools.io, or searching for cool add-ons and about:config settings for their Firefox browser (or other browsers), in order to make them more privacy-hardened.
However, TOR Browser is developed by professionals that know what they are doing when it comes to protecting your privacy and anti-fingerprinting (better than any of us on here), and it does not have to be used through TOR Network.
You can use TOR Browser without TOR Network, and obviously vice-versa. TOR Browser is configured with good about:config settings in mind so that the browser gives you the maximum amount of privacy while making sure that most websites are compatible with it (in order to make many websites compatible, some about:config settings cannot be modified). It also comes with two very good add-ons; NoScript and HTTPS Everywhere. TOR Browser team has good reasons for only including these two add-ons.
People usually have a primary browser, such as Firefox or Chrome, and then TOR Browser. But why not just have one browser for everything? You can enable and disable TOR Network in TOR Browser as you please, such as having it off when doing online banking or watching movies online (for better speeds), or having it on for anonymity (for general web browsing, visiting very weird websites, etc.).
To disable TOR Network in TOR Browser, follow these two simple steps:
1. In "about:config," change "network.proxy.socks_remote_dns" to "false."
2. In "about:preferences#advanced," go to the "Network" tab, click the "Settings..." button, and select "No proxy."
Every time you restart TOR Browser (or revert the changed preferences), you will be going through TOR proxy again. So whenever you launch the browser, you will need to disable these two settings whenever you want to stop going through the network.
Using TOR Browser for everything is not for everybody, and you might prefer just using your custom-hardened Firefox with uBlock Origin and all of those other goodies. Or, you might prefer using Google Chrome or Opera or whatever it is you use. That is fine. I'm just sharing on here what I personally use for my primary browser, why I do this, and how to do it.
RE: Stop "privacy-hardening" your Firefox (or Chrome!?), and just use TOR Browser instead - Vultra - 06-23-2018
Thanks dude. I've never really gotten into TOR just mainly the reason of, not bothered to download it when I mainly use GC. I will think about using TOR sometime down the track
RE: Stop "privacy-hardening" your Firefox (or Chrome!?), and just use TOR Browser instead - Slingshot - 06-23-2018
(06-23-2018, 07:08 AM)Mimiakira Wrote: Thanks dude. I've never really gotten into TOR just mainly the reason of, not bothered to download it when I mainly use GC. I will think about using TOR sometime down the track
No problem! TOR Browser is open source as well, and if you care about anonymity, it's a pretty good tool for that. Plus, you have access to the deep web.
RE: Stop "privacy-hardening" your Firefox (or Chrome!?), and just use TOR Browser instead - mothered - 06-23-2018
Tor Is based on Firefox, hence the below can also be applied In FF.
Just adding to your list, Tor still leaks the browser type & OS used In It's default state. Changing the User Agent will prevent this as follows.
- Enter "about:config" (no quotes) In Tor's Address Bar.
- In the Search Bar, enter "useragent" (one word, no quotes).
- Find "user.agent.override". If It doesn't exist, right-click anywhere In that page, select "New > String" and enter
"user.agent.override" (no quotes) and hit "OK". Then In the "Enter string value" Input field, enter the User Agent
String and hit "OK".
List of User Agent strings:
Code:
https://udger.com/resources/ua-listObviously, select a User Agent that's completely different to what you're using at the time- pertaining to all Installed browsers. With my setup, I'm assumed to be navigating via the Safari browser on the Mac OS X.
Spoiler:
![[Image: iro3tuI.png]](https://i.imgur.com/iro3tuI.png)
The above does not change the screen resolution. To do that, use Multiloginapp. It's only temporary, meaning you must have Multiloginapp open and the same browser session active.
For added layers of protection, I recommend the following configuration:
VPN (preferably double-layer AES-256 cipher encryption) > Bridges > Tor > Proxy (chaining preferred) > Exit Node.
That aside, appreciate your guide, It'll certainly be of help to those unbeknownst to the Tor network.
RE: Stop "privacy-hardening" your Firefox (or Chrome!?), and just use TOR Browser instead - Vultra - 06-23-2018
(06-23-2018, 07:42 AM)mothered Wrote: Tor Is based on Firefox, hence the below can also be applied In FF.
Just adding to your list, Tor still leaks the browser type & OS used In It's default state. Changing the User Agent will prevent this as follows.
- Enter "about:config" (no quotes) In Tor's Address Bar.
- In the Search Bar, enter "useragent" (one word, no quotes).
The change Is permanent, thus exiting Tor and/or rebooting your system will have no effect.
- Find "user.agent.override". If It doesn't exist, right-click anywhere In that page, select "New > String" and enter
"user.agent.override" (no quotes) and hit "OK". Then In the "Enter string value" Input field, enter the User Agent
String and hit "OK".
List of User Agent strings:
Code:https://udger.com/resources/ua-list
Obviously, select a User Agent that's completely different to what you're using at the time- pertaining to all Installed browsers. With my setup, I'm assumed to be navigating via the Safari browser on the Mac OS X.
Spoiler:
The above does not change the screen resolution. To do that, use Multiloginapp. It's only temporary, meaning you must have Multiloginapp open and the same browser session active.
For added layers of protection, I recommend the following configuration:
VPN (preferably double-layer AES-256 cipher encryption) > Bridges > Tor > Proxy (chaining preferred) > Exit Node.
That aside, appreciate your guide, It'll certainly be of help to those unbeknownst to the Tor network.
Oh, no wonder why they look the exact same xD.
Although, I can see a big debate with firefox but, TOR does provide that access to the deep web.
RE: Stop "privacy-hardening" your Firefox (or Chrome!?), and just use TOR Browser instead - mothered - 06-23-2018
(06-23-2018, 07:47 AM)Mimiakira Wrote: Although, I can see a big debate with firefox but, TOR does provide that access to the deep web.
If solely connecting to Tor, you can also anonymize your entry point to the Tor network by either selecting built-In bridges, or Implementing your own. The latter Is the better option. This prevents your ISP from Identifying that you're connected to Tor.
Although the above Is not fail-safe, It's certainly worthy of It's purpose.
RE: Stop "privacy-hardening" your Firefox (or Chrome!?), and just use TOR Browser instead - Slingshot - 06-23-2018
(06-23-2018, 07:42 AM)mothered Wrote: Tor Is based on Firefox, hence the below can also be applied In FF.
Just adding to your list, Tor still leaks the browser type & OS used In It's default state. Changing the User Agent will prevent this as follows.
- Enter "about:config" (no quotes) In Tor's Address Bar.
- In the Search Bar, enter "useragent" (one word, no quotes).
The change Is permanent, thus exiting Tor and/or rebooting your system will have no effect.
- Find "user.agent.override". If It doesn't exist, right-click anywhere In that page, select "New > String" and enter
"user.agent.override" (no quotes) and hit "OK". Then In the "Enter string value" Input field, enter the User Agent
String and hit "OK".
List of User Agent strings:
Code:https://udger.com/resources/ua-list
Obviously, select a User Agent that's completely different to what you're using at the time- pertaining to all Installed browsers. With my setup, I'm assumed to be navigating via the Safari browser on the Mac OS X.
Spoiler:
The above does not change the screen resolution. To do that, use Multiloginapp. It's only temporary, meaning you must have Multiloginapp open and the same browser session active.
For added layers of protection, I recommend the following configuration:
VPN (preferably double-layer AES-256 cipher encryption) > Bridges > Tor > Proxy (chaining preferred) > Exit Node.
That aside, appreciate your guide, It'll certainly be of help to those unbeknownst to the Tor network.
TOR Browser actually has a constant user agent string: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/52.0
This constant string is shared between all TOR Browser users, thus preventing user agent tracking in the first place. The more shared and common the user agent string, the less easy it is to fingerprint you. Are you using an outdated version of TOR Browser, or could something else be leaking this information?
It is recommended to not maximize your TOR Browser window, and leave it at the default size, which is what prevents screen size tracking.
RE: Stop "privacy-hardening" your Firefox (or Chrome!?), and just use TOR Browser instead - mothered - 06-23-2018
(06-23-2018, 08:46 AM)Slingshot Wrote: TOR Browser actually has a constant user agent string: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/52.0
This constant string is shared between all TOR Browser users, thus preventing user agent tracking in the first place.
My post was based on the User Agent being "leaked", and not tracked- there's a significant difference between both. A simple JavaScript code embedded In the webpage that you're viewing, can grab It.
Bear In mind, Tor Is never 100% anonymous In all facets of It's configuration.
RE: Stop "privacy-hardening" your Firefox (or Chrome!?), and just use TOR Browser instead - Vultra - 06-23-2018
(06-23-2018, 11:20 AM)mothered Wrote:(06-23-2018, 08:46 AM)Slingshot Wrote: TOR Browser actually has a constant user agent string: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; rv:52.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/52.0
This constant string is shared between all TOR Browser users, thus preventing user agent tracking in the first place.
My post was based on the User Agent being "leaked", and not tracked- there's a significant difference between both. A simple JavaScript code embedded In the webpage that you're viewing, can grab It.
Bear In mind, Tor Is never 100% anonymous In all facets of It's configuration.
So, to be 100% (You can never be 100% but yeah) safe, you would also need proxy-chains and or a vpn because,
the point of tor is to be 100% anonymous.
How did you read about tor not being 100% secure (anonymity)?
RE: Stop "privacy-hardening" your Firefox (or Chrome!?), and just use TOR Browser instead - mothered - 06-23-2018
(06-23-2018, 11:32 AM)Mimiakira Wrote: How did you read about tor not being 100% secure (anonymity)?
Personal experience and months of dedicated testing.
It's beyond the scope of this post to document It here, but I will generate a thread on Tor's Insecurities and how users can In fact be tracked.