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Re: (Newbie:) Why use privoxy?

Martin Möller wrote:

Hi all,

do I have to use privoxy when using Firefox as a browser? I've been
reading somewhere that firefox can make DNS request via tor. Is this
correct?

Martin


The problem with not using Privoxy is that browsers will try to resolve the IP addresses of web sites you are visiting before requesting the page through Tor. This means a request is being sent, unprotected, from your computer to whatever DNS server you use. This request will have in plain text the address of the web site whose host name you are trying to resolve. That defeats the purpose of Tor to a large extent.

When you use Privoxy, your browser won't try to resolve host names. Those host names will just be sent unresolved through Tor over TCP, and the exit node will resolve the hostname. DNS requests aren't made directly through Tor because Tor only handles TCP traffic and DNS is UDP, but since the exit node is initiating the connection just as you would if you were unprotected with the destination, it can do the DNS lookup itself.

I hope this helps.

-Keith