My laptop, the WIFI card isn’t working, so in order to get internet on it, I connected one of my old smartphones (without a SIM card) to my WIFI, then I connected the phone via USB to my laptop and use USB tethering to get Internet access for my laptop.
My laptop’s operating system is Zorin OS Lite, and the smartphone is a 2016 model, I factory reseted it so no accounts are connected to the phone.
Is it safe to use Tor Browser on a laptop with WIFI connected via USB tethering?
Thanks.
Why wouldn’t it be? Tor is designed to be fully safe by itself if you use Tor Browser
It will function the same as using normal wi-fi. Your mobile provider is just taking the seat as your ISP so they can see Tor traffic but not the contents, nothing should leak through your pc’s network adapter however using Tor solely on a mobile phone can leak your IP sometimes.
If you’re really worried you should get a burner phone and use that instead, may as well get one that’s auto-encrypted too and use wi-fi only hotspot so that you don’t have the two devices locally connected.
I wouldn’t see why not, I would imagine that it would run through Tor as normal.
Currently on my mobile I have DDG VPN always on and Tor Browser for other stuff. They seem to work well together. At least better than Proton VPN did.
Only one issue has risen from VPN use and that seems to be with Telehealth if your using it. For some reason can connect but no audio or visual with them.
Safe as in still anonymous?
Bro just buy an external Ethernet adapter
How come the clear IP is linked when using TOR directly through the phone, but not on another devixe through tethering, is it a vulnerability in the app itself?
Your mobile provider is just taking the seat as your ISP so they can see Tor traffic but not the contents, nothing should leak through your pc’s network adapter however using Tor solely on a mobile phone can leak your IP sometimes.
Actually, there is no mobile provider for this phone because I don’t have a SIM card attached to it. It will use my home WIFI as connection. So basically the same thing, my home WIFI provider or ISP will see my Tor traffic but not what I’m visiting.
Don’t use a VPN with Tor
Yes, am I still anonymous? The smartphone won’t have a mobile provider attached because there’s no SIM card attached to the phone, it will use my home WIFI as connection.
The apps, OS & device itself are all less secure. The network adapters are internal & integrated in weird non-standard ways depending on the manufacturer. Android’s VPN interface is buggy and can sort of cut out especially when routing more than 1 app through it. Seperate apps from seperate developers need to call on each other so weird conflicts are more likely.
I think you can setup routing manually and there is a rule you can add to force all traffic through it but you’re still relying on your hardware doing what the software is telling it to do properly.
If you’re doing something with potential consequences it’s not worth the risk imo, phones talk with everything constantly. They are literally surveilance devices.
Encrochat was a different vulnerability/mistake to do with the encryption keys but hell that’s still a great example. A phone built for privacy costing £2500+ and still everyone got locked within 24-hour period.
Oh I see you’re using it as an adapter, yeah still the same thing.
If you’re going to make an assertion of that. You should explain why.
I have no issues beyond possibly the issue I mentioned above.
Is it safe to tether through if the tor browser is being used on the second device, rather than the phone, or is there stilla significant risk of leakage?
This is a topic that is covered in great detail across several outlets.
So, the gist of it is that if you use a VPN connection before you connect to TOR, then you are first forwarding all your information not only to your ISP, but also now to another server that collects all your data–even if only temporarily. Granted, it’s encrypted, but that won’t mean much going into the near future with the beliefs of what quantum computing will allow (namely, that they’ll be able to crack the most sophisticated encryption methods like it’s nothing). Further, that’ll be two servers that know you were trying to connect to the Tor network.
And if you decide to connect to a VPN after your Tor connection, then you’ll always have the same final destination, which is known to be quite dangerous.
Check this out: https://blog.pastly.net/posts/2016-11-12-vpn-tor-not-net-gain/
No you’re safe at that point because by the time your phone receives any packets they’re already encrypted, your phone can blab all it wants but it won’t know any more than your ISP.
Wouldn’t a state ran malicious node be able to do the same thing? Correct me if I’m wrong but quantum computing seems to be a universal issue with the TOR network, rather than something specific to VPNs?
Tor’s own Wiki seems to contradict you:
You → VPN/SSH → Tor
This can be a fine idea, assuming your VPN/SSH provider’s network is in fact sufficiently safer than your own network.
Another advantage here is that it prevents Tor from seeing who you are behind the VPN/SSH. So if somebody does manage to break Tor and learn the IP address your traffic is coming from, but your VPN/SSH was actually following through on their promises (they won’t watch, they won’t remember, and they will somehow magically make it so nobody else is watching either), then you’ll be better off.
SOURCE: https://gitlab.torproject.org/legacy/trac/-/wikis/doc/TorPlusVPN
Will the website see any fingerprints specific to the phone, or will it just look like regular TOR browser traffic