Alpha Version Of The Sandboxed Tor Browser Is Available For Testing

Not too long ago, we touched upon the subject of a new Tor Browser release that would offer significant improvements. A sandboxed version of this tool has now been released, and it shows positive signs of potential. Some bugs still need ironing out, but it appears that the Tor Browser will once again be capable of safeguarding user’s anonymity while surfing the web.

New Tor Browser Looks Promising

One of the biggest concerns that Tor users around the world [should] have right now is how law enforcement agencies and hackers are seemingly capable of de-anonymizing users. Using malware, and exploits found in the Firefox code (which powers the Tor Browser) are just two of the possible attack vectors.

This is why the Tor Browser developers have put in multiple weeks of hard work to create a new version that will eliminate all of these potential issues. A sandboxed release was made public last weekend, and although it is still rough around the edges, it shows a lot of promise. That said, the developers acknowledge that some bugs will need to be ironed out before it can be released as a full version to the public.

Users are enabled to check out the new sandboxed Tor version by grabbing the code on GitHub and compiling it for their own machines. Official binaries, which will work only on the Linux operating system, are expected to be released later this week. Do keep in mind that this is an alpha release, and that the Tor Browser may behave unexpectedly in some regards.

This news comes as a great relief to Tor users all over the world. The past two years have been riddled with browser exploits and other de-anonymization techniques targeting users who want to remain anonymous while browsing the web. The Tor Browser is designed to provide full privacy protection and a level of anonymity, which is a thorn in the side of law enforcement agencies around the world.

If someone were able to pull off an exploit against the new Tor Browser, they would do so only within the sandboxed environment. This should limit the disclosure of information about what machine the browser runs on, as well as IP and MAC addresses. It is good to see that the developers have come up with this alpha release, even though this seemed highly unlikely just a few weeks ago.

For the time being, the sandboxed Tor Browser requires a lot of patching. Several bugs will effect fingerprinting and security of the browsing experience, and they will need to be resolved. That said, it is the first time that the Tor Browser will operate in a secure sandbox, which is a significant milestone for the project. Things are looking positive for Tor users, but there is no official release date for an “official” working version of this new browser.

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