Tor vs vpns

[SolmonPastor]

Btech lo mem TOR vadetollam peddaga technicalities teliyavu gaani it was fun. Most torrents series downloads ki upayogapadatadi Ani seniors cheppevallu.

Recently Yi video chusa.  To access deep web (access links not imdex by Google) and dark web( links that end in .onion) ki TOR use cheyavachu Ani.

In this scenario can anyone explain how Tor differs from vpn services and which gives more privacy?

 

[ekunadam_enkanna]

Look at your home network. Lets say you are on comcast.

your laptop (wifi) --> your wireless access point and router --> ISP modem ====INTER WEB===destination

your laptop: 192.168.1.100, your wifi access point: 192.168.1.1. Here, your home router changes the source address (read about NAT) from 192.168.1.100 to a public addres handed out by your ISP using DHCP protocol. Let's say, that public address, some routable addy, say 73.88.101.23.  The default route for your home router is your ISP router nearby. From there, based on the destination, that router pulls out a next hop (based on ASN numbers of networks, BGP protocol for dynamic routing). 

Anyway, in this sequence, if your data is not encrypted, everyone can tap what is in these packets. That's why N.S.A have attached pipes to all internet backbones just to store the data for months or years. If you use SSL/TLS, your data load is encrypted, but source and destination addies can be seen.

Think of the packet like this (not the real tcp packet data structure): source ip, source port; destination ip; destination port; DATA. (every thing is leaked here, including addies, ports and data)

In TLS,  the same packet is like: source ip, source port; destination ip; destination port; ENCRYPTED(DATA). (only ports/addies are leaked, your data is 'reasonably' safe)

If you want to understand how VPN works, think of a secure remote desktop connection to some VPN server, and browsing from that remote desktop connection. Now the source ip/source port are not your home IP/port. Instead, that VPN server's port and IP appear as source. If 1000 people use that server, you don't know who is using which connection: gumpulo govinda. That's why it is very important to NOT use credit cards to buy VPN services; even if you use BTC, if your VPN provider keeps logs for months,  law enforcement folks can trace back to your home based on those logs.

This remote desktopping is too cumbersome. So, instead you download some VPN software (say, open source wireguard). When you install it, it just created a virtual network interface, and all your traffic goes through this interface. Just imagine that there is an encrypted pipe between this interface and some port on the remote VPN server. On the receiving end, it decrypts and NATs. Further imagine that this encrypted pipe is an onion with a single layer.

Tor = onion with multiple layers. That is, with multiple encrypted pipes within encrypted pipes. Just imagine that this is a series of VPN's inside VPNs, with a condition that, at any level, the VPN server in question only knows the prior and the next VPN. 

Usually, N.S.A and govt agencies set up entry nodes, exit nodes, just to see who is getting in and getting out.

 

[SolmonPastor]

When Tor is free what added advantage does paid vpn services like Nord vpn etc provide?  I can think of one control that vpn gives you is that you can choose the country to route your traffic to circumvent country level access to certain websites.  Am I correct?

Also any thoughts on using Google products on TOR or vpns.  Usually Google makes it difficult to log in if your ips are not consistent with previous logins.

[ekunadam_enkanna]

1 minute ago, SolmonPastor said:

When Tor is free what added advantage does paid vpn services like Nord vpn etc provide?  I can think of one control that vpn gives you is that you can choose the country to route your traffic to circumvent country level access to certain websites.  Am I correct?

Also any thoughts on using Google products on TOR or vpns.  Usually Google makes it difficult to log in if your ips are not consistent with previous logins.

You need Tor, if you want anonymity. This anonymity is guaranteed if tor nodes are not compromised.  Tor is needed if you are a goodachaari in China, sending info to someone in murica. Look at all such cases where "being known" leads to prosecutions, arrests, persecutions and deaths.

Paid VPNs are good if you are using lots of public wifi access points, since you don't know who is trying to sneak in what you are doing. So, you just add one encrypted pipe between your starbucks/hotel wifi and nord vpn.

People use VPNs to change their source IPs just to harass people on the net. This happens in irc chat rooms, where people can figure out even if you change ur nick, since irc provides some unique string based on ur IP address. When your IP is banned, you need to change that IP. VPNs help. 

VPN is useful to change ur source IP addresses with a click.

Yes, Google tracks your pattern of which IPs you used before. Etc. One of my gmail addies got ha.c.k.ed by oka am.e.r.ca a.g.e.c.y. Google informed me right away the ip address where that hack was intiated. it pointed to some d.e.f.e.s.e  Nothing illegal in my gmail, just a weird email address, that garnered their interest. 

Another trick. Just use a normal email address (gumpulo govinda: never try to stand out; this is another reason agencies are interested on who uses TOR, even if TOR is used for legal legitimate need)