On 3/9/2012 9:17 AM, Tor User0000 wrote:
The difference, I believe, is when there is an option of either opening the file w/ some application(s) or d/l it, Tor browser / Torbutton warns that not all applications will preserve anonymity, if launched inside Tor / TBB. Whether you get the pop up could depend on how you have set the browser (& perhaps certain applications) to handle diff file types.Hi, I was always wondering why I get the following pop-up message when downloading a file. And it does not happen all the time. Why it says that an external app is needed when only opening the download window? *An external application is needed to handle: https://www.torproject.org/dist/torbrowser/linux/tor-browser-gnu-linux-i686-2.2.35-7.2-dev-en-US.tar.gz NOTE: External applications are NOT Tor safe by default and can unmask you! If this file is untrusted, you should either save it to view while offline or in a VM, or consider using a transparent Tor proxy like Tails LiveCD or torsocks. *Thanks for the help! :-)*
Like in Firefox, under Options>Applications, you can set PDF files to "Always ask," "Save," or "Use <Application Name>". If a file type is set to always save it to disk, you probably won't get the pop up you mention, because no application is going to try to open it vs saving to disk.
Most files COULD be opened, instead of saving to disk. What info might be leaked to compromise (in some way) anonymity, depends on the app & how it's configured, if it is configured to use the Tor network as a proxy, how well it handles using it, etc. I think most would agree, while using Tor, it's safer to save the file to disk, then open it. Depending on WHAT type file, maybe opening / running it after closing Tor. Especially if not d/l from a known, trusted site & you're not absolutely sure what the file is & does. Others may have more insight on specifics of this.
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