FoxyProxy : Safe browsing made simple
Ever since FF3 came out of the oven, we’ve all heard the complaints about Torbutton and its functionality (or lack thereof). Well Torbutton did serve its purpose in FF2, but not so much in FF3.
In fact not only is it unstable in FF3, it may even leak your private info. Besides that, Torbutton is notorious for changing settings without informing the user. I know certain constraints are to be met if you need true security (I.E. Disabling JavaScript etc…) but not letting the user choose this makes me a bit weary.
FoxyProxy doesn’t have these problems (last I checked).
To use Tor with FoxyProxy, first download Tor. Select the “stable” bundle. When installing, select Only Tor and Vidalia.
Select Tor and Vidalia only.
Tor is required, of course. And Vidalia gives you a nice interface to browse your connections and the network.
Then download FoxyProxy. Use Firefox to browse the link so you can install with one click.
Once installed and restarted, FF will show the FP button on the lower right corner of the browser. Click that, which will bring up the Options. Select Tor in the mode selection.
Use proxy "Tor" for all URLs
That’s it!
Torbutton (along with Privoxy in the bundle) used to be a nice and simple way to stay secure. Unfortunately FF3 was too good to refuse and TB couldn’t keep up.
As for load speeds, FP is almost exactly the same speed as Torbutton. Just as expected as you’re using the same proxy network, just a different utility to manage connections from the browser. As always, disabling JavaScript and Java is a good idea if you want to maintain anonymity to an appreciable degree.
The same goes for plugins such as Adobe, Flash, Silverlight etc…
I have become more than slightly disillusions by Tor for a variety of reasons. It is slow, offers fairly poor privacy if the exit node is poorly configured or actively packet sniffed. That said one of the main reason more people do not use it is the steps required to set it up. Whilst this may not be a daunting challenging for a tech savvy person, there are many out there for whom installing and configuring a local proxy is a daunting task. Initially only Opera, in the form OperaTor, was packaged up to include Tor but it is nice to see my favourite browser getting the same treatment. Good post :)
Thanks Konrad.
The real key to privacy is the understanding that both it and anonimity are always relative. Unfortunately a lot of people just expect everything to be : “I’m all setup and invulnerable!!!”. But we know that’s never the case.
As for being slow… Boy it sure is! But for basic privacy it gets the job done. I do think the Tor people have done a good job lately at making it easier to setup a safer node. The alpha is a bit unstable at times still, but I think it’s an improvement.
The exit node issue is something we all have to cautious of as node configuration isn’t the only hurdle. There are also crackdowns on node ops which is rather alarming. As a node op, I’m a bit worried as well, though I live in the U.S.