Tor protects your identity online-namely your IP address-by encrypting your traffic in at least three layers and bouncing it through a chain of three volunteer computers chosen among thousands around the world, each of which strips off just one layer of encryption before bouncing your data to the next computer. And it’s stronger and more versatile than ever before.

While imperfect, it remains the closest thing to a cloak of anonymity for internet users with a high sensitivity to surveillance, without needing serious technical chops.

The original project has been endlessly hacked on, broken, and fixed again. The Grand Tor: How to Go Anonymous Onlineįifteen years have passed since a couple of MIT grads and a Navy-funded researcher first built The Onion Router, or Tor, a wild experiment in granting anonymity to anyone online. Whether you're just curious (who isn't?) about Tor, or would like to know how to get started using it, here's a recent article from 'Wired' written by Andy Greenberg, that should fill the bill for you.

The onion router project