A VPN over Tor does not support 'circuit switching': The Tor Project wiki includes an explanation of the risks associated with this configuration, but we will summarise the three main points below.ġ. The only reason you should use a VPN over Tor is to gain access to services that block Tor users. In fact, it reduces your anonymity in significant ways that we will discuss below. It is important to understand that supplementing Tor with a VPN does not strengthen the security or the anonymity of your online activities. We will not be discussing this technique in detail because Tor bridge relays are generally considered a better way to achieve that goal.) Risks (Routing Tor over a VPN adds a VPN hop before your Tor entry relay and is sometimes used to reach the Tor network from locations where it is blocked. This method is often called 'VPN over Tor' to distinguish it from 'Tor over VPN' configurations, which work in the opposite direction. One way to achieve this, while still enjoying most of the anonymity benefits of Tor, is to add a VPN 'hop' after the exit relay at the end of your Tor circuit. If you need anonymous access to these sites - or if you need to access them at all while using Tails - your requests will need come from somewhere other than a known Tor exit relay. Using VPN over Tor for a secure anonymous connection to the internetĪs shown in the table of investigative resources in the Leak and Onion Soup guide, there are some useful web services that reject Tor users as a matter of policy.

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