Blackmoor Vituperative

As concerns about Internet privacy (or the lack thereof) continue to increase — and as users worry about the ability of governments, criminals and businesses to spy on their Internet usage — more attention is being given to tools that are designed to help users surf the Web anonymously.

The leading method for anonymous Web surfing is currently the Tor Network (which I discussed recently in my Tech Directions column).

Tor works through a technique called onion routing, which uses numerous routers through which communications will pass. As data passes through points on the Tor Network, each point knows only where the data is going and where it came from. As the network grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to trace a connection’s origin.

eWEEK Labs has been impressed with the functionality of Tor-based tools such as Vidalia, but these tools require full system installs and lack portability.

Hoawever, a recently released tool makes it very simple to get up and running quickly with a secure and anonymous Web connection. The free Torpark is a Firefox-based browser that automatically connects to the Tor Network and lets users surf anonymously with a minimum of fuss.

Even more impressive, Torpark, which runs straight from an executable and requires no installation routine, can be run directly from a USB drive. This means users can carry a privacy-enabled browser with them wherever they go. (No data is stored on the drive; only the app itself.)

(from eWeek, Torpark Makes Anonymous Web Surfing Easy)

I wonder how long it will be before this is made illegal and/or made the target of a domestic spying law?