14 DAY TRIAL // The Tor Project today released the latest version of the group’s anonymous web surfing tool, Tor Browser Bundle 3.6.2, packing the latest security and performance tweaks, as well as a new Firefox extended support release.
As usual, the developers break down the changes in categories, starting with the general tweaks and fixes affecting users on all platforms (Mac, Windows, Linux).
Users who prefer to surf the web without being tracked will be glad to know that the new TOR is based on Firefox 24.6.0esr (extended support release) and includes an OpenSSL patch (1.0.1h), NoScript version 2.6.8.28, and an updated Tor engine (Tor 0.2.4.22).
Several known bugs are listed as patched in this version. For example, the browser includes Pluggable Transport documentation, prevents ClipBoardCache from writing to disk, and makes the CONNECT Host header the same as the Request-URI. The update further switches on TLS 1.1 and 1.2 and doesn’t send startup time information to Mozilla, just to keep things completely anonymous.
The update of Tor Launcher to 0.2.5.5 is also riddled with fixes. The new code provides geoip6 file location to Tor process and removes untranslated locales that were dropped from Transifex, while also setting Proxy Type menu correctly after restart.
Torbutton 1.6.10.0 adds fixes for a hidden preference to force remote Tor check and addresses pref dialog double-click race that caused settings to be reset, according to the release notes.
To support proxies with Pluggable Transports, Tor now includes FTEProxy 0.2.15 and obfsproxy 0.2.9. There’s also a patch for malformed log messages.
For those who are not familiar with the Tor browser, it’s a free and open network that “helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security,” according to its creators.
“Tor protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, and it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location,” says the team behind the Tor Project.
The project has a fair share of controversy attributed to its Tor browser, which some people use for nefarious purposes, such as drug distribution and selling firearms. The requirements to use Tor are similar to those associated with other web browsers, like Firefox and Chrome. You’ll need at least 512MB of RAM and a few hundred megabytes of storage to install it.
Download Tor Browser Bundle 3.6.2 for Mac OS X