Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has revealed that its users would now be able to access the site without compromising Tor’s cryptographic protections. This new ability will allow the users to straightaway connect with the social network through anonymous “Dark Web” service Tor. Although Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) was accessible via Tor but the advantages of this new arrangement are data encryption and Tor users not considered mistakenly for hacked accounts. This would also benefit people living in places where access to the network is restricted like China, Iran, North Korea and Cuba.

Tor is a network developed to conceal locations when people visit web sites and to publish sites whose contents would not be picked up by search engines. Tor is an acronym for “The Onion Router” implying network having numerous encryption layers. It was originally developed by US Naval Research Laboratory. A person’s identity and location are concealed when data is transmitted over internet using highly circuitous routes utilizing volunteers’ PCs and computer servers as connecting nodes. With encryption enforced at each hop it makes it extremely difficult to associate a person with any specific activity. Software required to access Tor is called “Tor Browser bundle”.

Silicon Valley giant, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) is the first social network which has extended official support for Tor. Facebook consulted Dr Steven Murdoch from University College of London for this project. According to him, Facebook’s popularity would increase among those who like to conceal their location and browsing routines. Even though they would still have to log-in to the site using real name identification but they are less likely to compromise their location or browsing habits. He further clarified that absolute secretive usage of social media is extremely difficult unless someone is only reading information.

Dismissing the apprehension that Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) might face government annoyance since users information is required, he supported that the move was not primarily aimed at protecting people from governments but protecting from those who were sniffing information also.  All major web companies including Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) are endeavoring to be extra transparent over received government requests.

New service would be accessed through a Tor browser at https://facebookcorewwwi.onion/. It would ensure that no information leaves anonymous Tor network as compared to earlier arrangements where some traffic would access open internet leaving the closed network thus exposing users.

Before the new arrangement, people using Tor to access Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) faced additional security checks. If someone tried to log-in from an unpredictable location, it would be taken as evidence that the account has been hacked even if all they ever did was change their location. Therefore, they had to go through additional security checks before log-in from a new place. In addition, Facebook’s (NASDAQ:FB) usage on Tor became cumbersome due to wrong display of fonts. Alec Muffet, Facebook’s engineer, elaborated that under the new arrangement a user getting connected from Australia at one instance might appear to be connected from Canada the next moment. Earlier it was considered as a hacked account but not anymore.

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