Using TOR Safely When Surfing The Deep Web

You just bought a Jom Apply Time internet plan Malaysia and have your own internet to surf without relying on your mobile data. Exciting ain’t it? You might find it more exciting when you decide to surf the deep web with your own network. Now hold your horses.

Sure, there isn’t anything very wrong in surfing the hidden part of the internet. But remember that even in 2022, it can be a hazard to your network’s and your own safety if you are not careful. Before you think of so-called hitman websites, red rooms, and the like, you might as well forget them. Those and any other similar claims are false.

Yes, there are still sites selling counterfeits, drugs, weapons or so on for sale, but no more anything serious. They are either fake or can be entered, but there is a chance that it is nothing but an undercover den run by the police to capture anybody planning to do something criminal, like hiring “hitmen.”

Still, you and your network’s security are still a priority so you do not want to wake up and find something incriminating or digitally harmful dumped into your computer by somebody looking to aim your device as a scapegoat, or just run a ransomware or steal your stuff.

The TOR Browser and VPN

This is your main means of accessing the deep web, and it always has been in its history since the early 2000s. This is also the easiest method because it sets everything up for you to safely browse the deep web after installation. If you want to browse Tor on your phone, there is an Android version of it, also available in its official website.

You can adjust its security settings while browsing. The stricter the level, the more restricted the images, videos or other media are in the onion websites. If you still want to see a lot of them, it is safer to set your security level to medium, represented by a half shield.

Some guides or people may tell you to use VPN together with TOR to increase your security. Do NOT follow this advice. TOR itself doesn’t recommend you to use it together with VPN unless you know what you are doing without compromising your anonymity. TOR alone is enough in making you anonymous, however should it be censored by your network, a VPN may help. Consult the wiki for more info.

Downloading files?

Generally, you should be careful when downloading files. Make sure that the site looks okay enough to not kick your computer in the nuts when you do it. If you want to, you could download one file, exit TOR, scan with your antivirus if you have to, and open the file.

The absolute rule of downloading files is that you must never torrent at all. A torrent client can bypass TOR’s protection by sending your actual IP address to the service and other “peers”, which can identify your unencrypted data and the port you use to torrent.

Besides sending you malware or reporting the authorities if you happen to download something illegal (you better not be), the traffic of torrents can also slow down TOR’s network, as if it isn’t already slow enough at times. Yes, browsing the deep web can be a roller coaster.