Though the browser uses a green globe icon, it's basically Firefox 10 with Tor-specific features added to the toolbar. But the software did it all itself, connecting and opening the browser in a Tor start page. We extracted and opened the Tor Browser, which includes the Vidalia Control Panel, a small dialog box for configuring and managing your connection to the Tor network. Both the Tor Browser and access to the Tor network are free. Basically, the Tor Browser does it all for you. It includes the Vidalia network connection utility, but it's much less fiddly than previous Tor implementations. Naval Research Lab, it's now the concern of the Tor Project, an open-source community devoted to developing Tor, the software implementation of second-generation Onion Routing technology, and to maintaining the Tor network.

Think of an onion's layers: in Onion Routing, layers of encryption make it impossible to trace messages back to their point of origin. If you would have thought Onion Routing involved wooden crates and flatbed trucks or maybe a sandwich order, you might be surprised to hear it's actually an online security technology. The free Firefox-based Tor Browser Bundle integrates the Tor network's enhanced privacy and security.

Tor project reviews