For example, if you submit your credit card information to an online store, that information travels across the network in an encrypted state to prevent theft. Some regular Internet data packets are encrypted using a protocol called Secure Socket Layer (SSL) or its newer, stronger cousin Transport Layer Security (TLS). That way, a data packet's path through the Tor network cannot be fully traced. The layers of encrypted address information used to anonymize data packets sent through Tor are reminiscent of an onion, hence the name. The relay then rewraps the package in a new wrapper and sends it on. MORE: 13 Security and Privacy Tips for the Truly ParanoidĮach relay decrypts only enough of the data packet wrapper to know which relay the data came from, and which relay to send it to next. The modified and encrypted data packet is then routed through many of these servers, called relays, on the way to its final destination.The roundabout way packets travel through the Tor network is akin to a person taking a roundabout path through a city to shake a pursuer. Regular Internet connections don't do this. Finally, Tor encrypts the rest of the addressing information, called the packet wrapper.

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