Tor Phone

From HandWiki
Short description: Smartphone that routes internet connections through the Tor network

A Tor Phone refers to the concept of a smartphone that routes internet connections through the Tor network. The first Tor Phone was a prototype smartphone released in 2016 by The Tor Project, which gave users the ability to route internet connections through Tor for anonymity. Work on Tor Phone was launched in 2014,[1] and a "Tor-enabled Android phone prototype" was announced in 2016.[2] The project was led by Mike Perry, Tor Browser lead developer.[3]

Background

Tor Phone refers to a smartphone set to route internet connections through Tor network, for example using the Orbot application and Android VPN settings,[4] although according to developer Mike Perry in 2016, Android's VPN APIs were not secure and could leak data at boot, which affects Orbot too.[5] The prototype Tor Phone was based on CopperheadOS, which added additional security features.[6][7][8][9] Another option is to use Torbrowser on smartphones.[10][11][12] Follow-on project, GrapheneOS supports using Orbot (Tor) VPN, but not Tor browser, on Android-based phones.[13][14] As of February 2022 or earlier, Orbot is also available for iOS phones.[15]

Adoption

The number of Tor users on phones is unknown. As of 2016 there were about 2 million daily Tor users, total, including all devices and methods.[16]

In 2018 Louis Adam of ZDNet France discussed new official support of Tor Project for Tor services on Android phones, including Tor Browser and Orbot.[10]

John Corpuz of Toms Guide listed Tor Browser (Desktop and Android), and Onion Browser (iOS) as two of 16 "best ad blockers in 2021".[17]

Using Tor with Orbot and Tor Browser are supported by custom Android operating systems CalyxOS[18][19] and DivestOS.[20]

Related projects

In January 2015 David Briggs and Nick Spriggs began an unsuccessful Indiegogo campaign to make the BOSS phone, an Android-based phone with "rooted Tor encryption" to anonymize and privatize internet browsing.[21][22]

In 2014 Blackphone from Silent Circle was sold as an Android-based phone with applications and services to provide more secure messaging, VPN and cloud storage.[23] In 2014 the Boeing Black phone was advertised as a more secure Android-based phone, with dual SIM for using public and government networks.[24][25]

In 2014 a mobile version of TAILS operating system was announced.[26][27]

In 2012 the Ninja phone, an HTC One V phone running Android 4.0.3, was developed to demonstrate using an independent GSM phone network at DefCon. The network was operated from The Ninja Tel van, with official looking logo, a GSM base station; a 12-foot antenna; networking and Web app servers parked in a large room at Defcon.[28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Perry, Mike (April 2, 2014). "Mission Impossible: Hardening Android for Security and Privacy | Tor Blog". https://blog.torproject.org/mission-impossible-hardening-android-security-and-privacy. 
  2. ↑ Perry, Mike (November 16, 2016). "Mission Improbable: Hardening Android for Security And Privacy | Tor Blog". https://blog.torproject.org/mission-improbable-hardening-android-security-and-privacy. 
  3. ↑ "Tor Project: Core People". 2016-11-14. https://www.torproject.org/about/corepeople.html.en. 
  4. ↑ "Tor Mobile | Tor Project | Support". https://support.torproject.org/tormobile/. 
  5. ↑ "How to anonymize all of your apps on Android" (in en-US). 2014-10-08. https://www.dailydot.com/debug/anonymous-android-apps-orbot-orwall-orweb/. 
  6. ↑ Sabarinath (2016-11-26). "Tor Phone — Super Private And Secure Version Of Android By Tor Project" (in en-US). https://techlog360.com/tor-phone-by-tor-project/. 
  7. ↑ "The Tor Phone prototype: a truly private smartphone?" (in en-US). 2016-11-29. https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2016/11/29/the-tor-phone-prototype-a-truly-private-smartphone/. 
  8. ↑ Staff, Ars (2016-11-22). "Tor phone is antidote to Google "hostility" over Android, says developer" (in en-us). https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/11/tor-phone-prototype-google-hostility-android-open-source/. 
  9. ↑ "Tor Phone Is The "Super-secure Version Of Android", Developed By Tor Project" (in en-US). 2016-11-25. https://fossbytes.com/tor-phone-secure-android-copperhead/. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Tor fait peau neuve sur Android" (in fr). https://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/tor-fait-peau-neuve-sur-android-39873451.htm. 
  11. ↑ "How to: Use Tor for Android" (in en). 2020-03-11. https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/how-use-tor-android. 
  12. ↑ Whitney, Lance (May 9, 2019). "How to use the Tor browser on an Android device" (in en). https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-to-use-the-tor-browser-on-an-android-device/. 
  13. ↑ "FAQ | GrapheneOS" (in en). https://grapheneos.org/faq. 
  14. ↑ "Usage | GrapheneOS" (in en). https://grapheneos.org/usage. 
  15. ↑ Orr, Andrew (2022-02-28). "Need Tor on iOS? 'Orbot' has Arrived on the Platform" (in en-US). https://www.macobserver.com/news/orbot-on-ios/. 
  16. ↑ "Traffic Studies Reveal Complex Picture of Tor's Role on 'Dark Web'". 14 April 2016. https://www.eweek.com/security/traffic-studies-reveal-complex-picture-of-tor-s-role-on-dark-web. 
  17. ↑ Corpuz, John. "The best ad blockers in 2021" (in en). https://www.tomsguide.com/round-up/best-adblockers-privacy-extensions. 
  18. ↑ "Orbot". https://calyxos.org/docs/guide/apps/orbot/. 
  19. ↑ "Apps". https://calyxos.org/docs/guide/apps/#included-apps. 
  20. ↑ "Recommended Apps - DivestOS Mobile". https://divestos.org/index.php?page=recommended_apps. 
  21. ↑ Matyszczyk, Chris. "BOSS phone, a handset so secure that Sony execs should use it?" (in en). https://www.cnet.com/news/boss-phone-so-secure-that-sony-execs-should-use-it/. 
  22. ↑ Dormehl, Luke (2015-01-12). "Can This Giant Tor Phone Finally Protect Against Hackers?" (in en-US). https://www.fastcompany.com/3040806/can-this-giant-tor-phone-finally-protect-against-hackers. 
  23. ↑ Rosenblatt, Seth. "No black art to the Blackphone's quest for smartphone privacy" (in en). https://www.cnet.com/news/no-black-art-to-the-blackphone-making-smartphone-privacy-easy/. 
  24. ↑ "Boeing: Boeing Black Smartphone". 2014-02-28. https://www.boeing.com/boeing/defense-space/ic/black/index.page. 
  25. ↑ "Boeing Black Smartphone Product Card". 2014-02-28. http://www.boeing.com/assets/pdf/defense-space/ic/black/boeing_black_smartphone_product_card.pdf. 
  26. ↑ "Tor is building an anonymous smartphone OS" (in en-US). 2014-02-27. https://www.dailydot.com/debug/tor-anonymous-os-tails-freitas/. 
  27. ↑ "All the details on Tor's new mobile OS" (in en-US). 2014-03-03. https://www.dailydot.com/debug/tor-anonymous-mobile-os-tails/. 
  28. ↑ Mills, Elinor. "Hackers build private 'Ninja Tel' phone network at Defcon" (in en). https://www.cnet.com/news/hackers-build-private-ninja-tel-phone-network-at-defcon/. 

External links




Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Tor_Phone&oldid=3387105"