21 votes

You should connect to Tor via a VPN, actually

6 comments

  1. [3]
    R3qn65
    Link
    Would you be interested in doing a short write-up of the background for this video and what we might get out of watching it? The premise is quite specific.

    Would you be interested in doing a short write-up of the background for this video and what we might get out of watching it? The premise is quite specific.

    12 votes
    1. tibpoe
      Link Parent
      Computer-generated summary: Using a VPN before connecting to Tor provides advantages over just using Tor alone, such as making your traffic blend in better and providing plausible deniability from...

      Computer-generated summary:

      • Using a VPN before connecting to Tor provides advantages over just using Tor alone, such as making your traffic blend in better and providing plausible deniability from your ISP.
      • Tor Project doesn't actively recommend VPNs because they want to keep their advice simple, but they acknowledge VPNs can help users stand out less on their network.
      • Your ISP or network administrator poses the same threat as law enforcement in deanonymizing your Tor traffic based on metadata.
      • Connecting directly to Tor makes your usage obvious on your local network, while a VPN connection is less suspicious and common.
      • Bridges only circumvent censorship temporarily, as they are eventually blocked, leaving your past Tor usage identifiable through historical network analysis.
      • Many situations exist where hiding Tor usage would be beneficial beyond just criminals or censorship evasion, such as whistleblowing.
      • The worst case of using a VPN with Tor leaves you no worse off, as your adversary would already have visibility into your regular Internet traffic.
      • Properly using a VPN before Tor does not increase fingerprintability or harm anonymity according to Tor's design.
      26 votes
    2. freddy
      Link Parent
      The video essentially spawned out of a discussion on the Privacy Guides forum...

      The video essentially spawned out of a discussion on the Privacy Guides forum...

      9 votes
  2. [3]
    fxgn
    Link
    Woah, I didn't expect to see PG team members here on Tildes! Thanks for the video, it does explain things very clearly

    Woah, I didn't expect to see PG team members here on Tildes! Thanks for the video, it does explain things very clearly

    8 votes
    1. [2]
      freddy
      Link Parent
      Thanks for using the site :)

      Thanks for using the site :)

      3 votes
      1. fxgn
        Link Parent
        Thank you for making it, it's a great resource. I was one of the first people on the PG translation team, and made like half of the Russian translation, though I didn't finish it. It seems like...

        Thank you for making it, it's a great resource. I was one of the first people on the PG translation team, and made like half of the Russian translation, though I didn't finish it. It seems like someone else has finished the translation and the Russian version is now fully available.

        5 votes