Firefox-based open-source web browser The Onion Router, or TOR, that allows anonymous communication gets a new upgrade—TOR Browser 12.0. The new release has better features as per its recent version of Firefox ESR (Mozilla Firefox 102). It can be downloaded from the official website or distribution directory. 

What’s new?

The TOR Browser 12.0 makes it more inclusive by providing multi-locale support to desktop users. So, if you want to switch the TOR browser to any other language besides English, you don’t need to go through language searches and downloads. The browser supports all languages in one pack without loading up the size. Just restarting the web browser after changing the language will do the work. 

“Bundling multiple languages in a single download should increase TOR Browser’s file size—we are very conscious of this; however, we’ve found a way to make efficiency savings elsewhere, meaning the difference in file size between TOR Browser 11.5 and 12.0 is minor,” said the company.

The new update allows HTTPS-Only mode by default for android users. This provides more security against SSL stripping attacks and prioritises the .onion sites feature, which automatically takes you to the matching .onion site of the respective website when Onion-Location is configured. 

The release aids native Apple Silicon, Go 1.19.3, the latest TOR 0.4.7.12 update, and overall refines the TOR Launcher and letterboxing feature. 

The U.S. Navy originally designed TOR to protect the user’s location on the network while browsing, so servers can’t trace their internet activity. In addition, TOR provides anonymity to the website and the visitors by a .onion web address. So, even though it is a privacy-focused browser, it is often used to access the dark web.