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Tor Browser 6.0: Ditches SHA-1 Support, Uses DuckDuckGo For Default Search Results (torproject.org)

Posted by msmash on from the browse-like-nobody-is-watching dept.

The version 6.0 of Tor Browser, a free software for enabling anonymous communication, is now available to download. The new version introduces several changes, including disabling SHA-1 support, and removing Mac Gatekeeper issue. Another big change is that Tor now uses DuckDuckGo for search results by default. The Tor Project, people behind Tor, add that the "updater is not relying on the signature alone, but is checking the hash of the downloaded update file as well before applying it." More details on NetworkWorld.

7 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. Anonymous communication by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If "anonymous" means "monitored specifically because you are using Tor" then I guess the summary is correct.

    1. Re:Anonymous communication by NotInHere · · Score: 4, Informative

      I often use tor not because I not want to be monitored by my government (not doing illegal things), but because I don't want to feed data to the ever hungry google and other companies.

    2. Re: Anonymous communication by um...+Lucas · · Score: 2

      I thought I was the only person who browsed slashdot through an IP over avian carrier connection.

    3. Re:Anonymous communication by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

      Um, its a Dell. It ain't shitty!

  2. Re:DuckDuckGo Tor Hidden Service by EvilSS · · Score: 2

    I'm just waiting for the day we find out that DuckDuckGo is actually run by the NSA.

    --
    I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
  3. Signatures are hashes by bluefoxlucid · · Score: 3, Informative

    A digital signature is a hash that's been encrypted using a private key such that the public can verify its authenticity. Regardless of all attacks, if you have the public key, you can validate that the published hash is indeed published by a holder of the private key.

    Verifying the digital signature of a download is done by computing the hash, verifying that hash, and verifying that the provided hash was encrypted with a public key matching a particular private key.

    Tor basically said they're doing meaningless shit.

    --
    Support my political activism on Patreon.
  4. Should Mozilla embrace privacy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's no secret that Firefox has been losing users left and right. The latest stats show that Firefox has only 6% to 7% of the market across all versions and all platforms. That puts it well below Chrome, and around the same level as niche browsers like iOS Safari and Opera Mini.

    Lately, Firefox has been Mozilla's only successful product. Mozilla basically jettisoned Thunderbird, their other successful product. Other efforts like Persona and Firefox OS have been total failures. Bugzilla is ancient history. Rust hasn't accomplished much. Servo isn't going anywhere. Firefox is the only thing keeping Mozilla barely relevant.

    It's clear why people have left Firefox: numerous awful UI changes, the inclusion of other unwanted changes like Hello and Pocket, and poor performance.

    But what could bring people back to Firefox?

    Fixing the UI, usability and performance issues would be a good start, of course. But that wouldn't be enough.

    I think that Mozilla and Firefox should embrace privacy. That doesn't necessarily mean using Tor, of course. But privacy should become one of their main focuses.

    Instead of being known as the browser that's slow, bloated, and a cheap imitation of Chrome, Firefox could become known as the browser that maximizes user privacy. With an improved reputation and an improved user experience, Firefox could very well make a comeback against Chrome and its other competitors.