Users’ internet traffic is sent through an encrypted network of volunteer-maintained relays around the world. This makes it very difficult to trace the original users’ identity. Tor’s anonymity function is used by everyone from human rights workers and journalists through to drug and arms dealers. Mullvad is one of the few providers that offer the VPN Over Tor configuration to access the dark web.
How To Safely Access The Dark Web With A VPN
Users can choose a particular location using a map or by scrolling through the country list. The drop-down menu next to each country lists the available servers. Unlike most VPNs, Surfshark has static IP addresses available, which are useful if you’re hosting a server and want a stable IP address. However, if you’re connecting to Tor, Surfshark’s Rotating IP feature will prove more useful. This changes your IP address mid-connection, making your true location yet more difficult to track. The rest – Private Internet Access, Proton VPN, and Surfshark are excellent too.
Whether you’re browsing forums, grabbing files, or just exploring the unknown, your connection needs to be private, encrypted, and airtight. Hotspot Shield’s free version gives you 500MB of data per day, which resets every 24 hours. During our testing, we ran Tor over Proton VPN on both desktop and mobile. It handled multiple tabs inside Tor without slowing to a crawl, even when pulling text-heavy .onion sites and small downloads.
How To Choose The Best Dark Web VPN
Most settings are pre-configured, so you can have top-level dark web security without making any adjustments. It’s hard to find a free VPN that keeps you safe on the dark web — many free VPNs simply don’t allow dark web traffic on their servers. And out of the ones that do, many lack essential security features, such as strong encryption protocols or a strict no-logs policy. Using the dark web isn’t illegal, but what you access there might be. Visiting .onion forums or encrypted marketplaces isn’t a crime on its own, but accessing illicit content, buying restricted items, or interacting with criminal services definitely is. Always stick to legal use, and don’t click random links without protection.
The Best VPNs For Tor Reviewed
We score each criteria and then combine the results to create an overall score out of ten. As you can see from the above, NordVPN and Surfshark scored highest when evaluated for security and privacy. Both are excellent choices to keep you safe while using the dark web. We assign a score to each of the criteria to create an overall score out of ten.
As Tor works on macOS, Android, Linux, and Windows – same as NordVPN – you’ll have unrestricted dark web access at any moment. AES-256-bit encryption is the backbone, making you untrackable online. The provider owns and hosts these servers in Switzerland and Iceland — two countries with some of the best privacy laws. This, coupled with Proton VPN’s strict no-logs policy, guarantees that no details about your dark web activity will ever be leaked. Surfshark claims the second spot thanks to its excellent security, affordable pricing and unique features for dark web users. One such feature is “alternative ID,” which assigns you a unique profile to keep your identity and location concealed as you roam the risky underbelly of the internet.
Private Internet Access
We recommend that you use only the Tor browser to access the deep, dark web, if you must. If you fancy exploration, we’ve listed nine other options as well. Tails is a privacy-focused live operating system that you can boot from a USB stick. It is designed to be used without leaving a trace on your computer. It forces all internet connections to go through the Tor network. It also comes with several secure pre-installed software programs, including the Tor Browser.
Best VPN For Dark Web: Top Picks For Secure And Anonymous Browsing
You can try PIA risk-free via its 30-day money-back guarantee or there’s a seven-day free trial for mobile users. Either way, sign up and see if PIA hits the right notes for you. Both the NSA and the FBI have targeted Tor users in the past, while Comcast has threatened to terminate the internet service of customers who use Tor. That’s why I strongly suggest using a VPN to hide your Tor usage from the outside world.
How To Safely Access The Deep Web
- Rule No.41 allows a federal judge to issue a search and seize warrant for any person who is using anonymity software like Tor.
- Using a VPN adds an extra layer of encryption, protecting your privacy and security as you browse the dark web.
- Bear in mind too that laws about freedom of speech and censorship vary from country to country, which is part of the reason the dark web exists in the first place.
- These servers route internet traffic through the same tunneling protocol and guarantee privacy when browsing the Dark web.
You can either sell or buy goods on the dark web, but both present difficulties. The dark web is also a place for scammers to attract vulnerable and unwitting victims. The platform is also used by governmental cyber departments to identify and track potential criminals or offenders. You can never be sure who’s really behind the other end of the line. That alone might already raise suspicion and place you under special surveillance.
How To Access The Dark Web
Besides the off-putting logo and app design, Darkweb VPN itself is a mystery and cannot be trusted with your IP address and online traffic. We don’t recommend Hotspot Shield Basic for Tor because it logs too much data and shares information with third-party advertisers. When you’re done surfing or shopping on the dark web, don’t forget to shut down Tails. The major advantage of using a live OS such as Tails is that, on shut down, the OS wipes itself from the thumb drive you’ve installed it. Well, there’s a reason why it’s recommended to browse with a minimized or rescaled window – you can be tracked based on your active window’s dimensions (yeah, they really can do that). So, do yourself a favor and rescale that Tor window as much as you can before proceeding.
Is It Legal To Access The Deep Web?
Apps are available for all major platforms, and the intuitive interface makes getting up and running quick and easy. Below we‘ll explore what makes each VPN service uniquely qualified for keeping you protected on your journeys into the deep web. Let‘s start by looking at key factors for comparing VPNs for anonymous dark web access. Depending on where you are based, your ISP might then throttle your internet speeds and even contact you about Tor usage. This is one of the many reasons why Tor isn’t always safe to use. So to combat this, we’ve included fast local speeds as criteria for the best VPNs for Tor.
Are There Good Free VPNs For The Dark Web?
It has servers in over 80 countries and can unblock many different services. Since it doesn’t slow down your internet connection much to begin with, your speeds won’t suffer too much while connected to the Tor network when compared to connecting without a VPN. That said, most free VPNs aren’t suitable for browsing the dark web because they lack features that paid VPNs usually have. Free VPNs sometimes throttle speeds, which compounds with Tor’s already slow traffic. They also often have data caps that are quickly used up, especially if you often have to refresh your circuit.
However, when you use a VPN, your ISP can’t even see that you’re connecting to Tor. Like ExpressVPN, Surfshark is registered in the British Virgin Islands, beyond the jurisdiction of any major surveillance alliance. This ensures added layers of security and privacy for Dark Web users, away from intrusive eyes. Using a dark web-specific browser such as Tor or I2P itself is legal in virtually all countries. But using these tools for illegal purposes constitutes a criminal act either way. Don’t be fooled into going to a malicious clone site that is designed to extract your information.
The dark web is home to plenty of unlawful activity, so you must ensure you never get involved in something illegal. PrivateVPN allows torrenting and has dedicated servers in its home country for just that purpose. Torrenters can also make use of port forwarding, which allows connections to more peers in a torrent swarm.
