Don’t Use Tor Right Now If You Are Working From Home
As more people stay at home and work remotely to avoid the COVID-19 outbreak, online safety has become an even higher priority. Using a web browser that respects user privacy and keeps your data safe is a necessity to work remotely, but you should probably avoid using the Tor web browser for now, even if this is one of the best ways to anonymize your web activity.
According to the Tor development team , the bug accidentally allows Javascript to run on web pages, even if users specifically disabled it or enabled the strictest browser settings (via ZDNet ). Disabling and blocking Javascript is one of the key features of Tor, but a malfunction compromises its security and makes the browser potentially dangerous for users who rely on its anonymity, as companies, government agencies, and even hackers can use Javascript to find IP addresses.
A patch is currently being developed, but there is no specific timeline for its release. Meanwhile, there is a potential “core option” that will forcefully stop all Javascript functionality in Tor. This will make some websites unusable, and it is possible that the Javascript error will still occur even after trying to fix it, but it’s worth considering:
- Open Tor, then type
about:configin the address bar and press Enter. - Press CTRL + F and search for
javascript.enabled - Double-click the javascript.enabled line to change the value in the Value column to False. Unfortunately, if it is already set to False and / or the Javascript is still working after making the change, this will not fix the problem.
Tor users should also consider using an alternative browser pending a patch.
Few can match Tor’s level of anonymity, but Brave is a great choice for privacy, with Firefox in second place (Tor and Brave are built on top of Firefox). Even Vivaldi, Edge and Opera have their perks – just avoid Chrome if you’re trying to block ads , data trackers, and hide your identity.
We also have guides on finding VPN , password manager, and anti-malware software that can help protect your devices and data while waiting for the coronavirus. By the way, don’t download COVID-19 tracking apps and be aware of the numerous online scams taking advantage of the current global situation.