Security News

Brave Browser version 1.47 was released yesterday, adding the Snowflake extension in the software's settings, enabling users to turn their devices into proxies that help users in censored countries connect to Tor. Brave had already added support for Tor Bridges in Private Windows with Tor in version 1.44, released in September 2022, helping users bypass restrictions in the countries using the company's own resources.

The Tor Project team has announced the release of Tor Browser 12.0, a major version release introducing support for Apple Silicon chips and several enhancements for the Android version. Tor browser version 12.0 is based on Firefox 102, an upgrade from Firefox version 91, which was used as the base for the previous Tor release, v11.5.

Cybersecurity biz Kaspersky has spotted a modified version of the Tor Browser it says collects sensitive data on Chinese users. The data collected by the browser itself includes internet history and data entered into website forms, said the threat hunter.

A popular Chinese-language YouTube channel has emerged as a means to distribute a trojanized version of a Windows installer for the Tor Browser. The malicious version of the Tor Browser installer is being distributed via a link present in the description of a video that was uploaded to YouTube on January 9, 2022.

The Tor Project team has announced the release of Tor Browser 11.5, a major release that brings new features to help users fight censorship easier. The Tor Browser has been created specifically for accessing sites through The Onion Router network to offer users anonymity and privacy when accessing information on the internet.

One of the common techniques used by these threat actors to try to add a strong layer of anonymity consists of using The Onion Router network to hide the location of their servers. It is important to note that servers hosted on the Tor network are just typical servers hosted on the Internet - users are merely accessing them via a special network.

Speek! is a new encrypted chat service that uses Tor to offer secure communication. Speek! isn't quite like the chat apps and services you are used to.

The maintainers of the Tails project have issued a warning that the Tor Browser that's bundled with the operating system is unsafe to use for accessing or entering sensitive information. "We recommend that you stop using Tails until the release of 5.1 if you use Tor Browser for sensitive information," the project said in an advisory issued this week.

The Tor Project has published details about a newly introduced system called Congestion Control that promises to eliminate speed limits on the network. Congestion Control "Will result in significant performance improvements in Tor, as well as increased utilization of our network capacity," say the maintainers of the project.

REvil ransomware's servers in the TOR network are back up after months of inactivity and redirect to a new operation that appears to have started since at least mid-December last year. It is unclear who is behind the new REvil-connected operation but the new leak site lists a large catalog of victims from past REvil attacks plus two new ones.