In the previous lecture, we learned that there is an anonymizing network that we can use in order to
protect our anonymity and privacy.
We learned that it works because it has a number of computers or nodes connected to the network.
And then when we send data through the network, it will bounce over a minimum of three nodes before
it goes to the destination.
Now.
I also mentioned in the previous lecture that Thor allows connected devices to host or to offer services.
Now these services can be a simple website.
And because these websites are connected to Tor, they will benefit from the anonymity that Tor offers,
and therefore they're usually referred to as Tor hidden services or onion services.
So this diagram right here would usually look more like this in real life.
So you'd have some nodes or relays which you can use in order to go to a certain destination on the
Internet.
But at the same time, some of the connected nodes or some of the connected devices are actually acting
as onion services.
So these are similar to normal websites that you see on the Internet, but they exist within the Tor
network.
They also use a really smart protocol developed by Tor, which is designed to hide the identity of the
server, offering the service and the client trying to access the service.
So whenever you try to access a TOR service at any point of time, both the client and the server offering
the service do not know where or who the other party is.
So let's say instead of trying to go to Google.com, you try to go to this onion service right here.
What's going to happen is you're going to connect to the Tor network again.
Connection right here is not encrypted by TOR, but the ISP, like I said, the internet service provider
or any other entity trying to censor your connection, they won't be able to see that you're trying
to access an onion service.
They'll only be able to see that you're connecting to the Tor network.
Then once you're in the network, you're going to bounce your request over a random node.
You're going to go to a second random node.
And finally, instead of going to a third node, then out to the Internet to another website on the
Internet, on the service web, you're going to stay within the Tor network and you're literally just
going to go to your onion service.
Now, whenever you try to communicate or connect to an onion service, the process is actually much
more complex than what's shown in this diagram.
It is done over a really smart protocol that is developed by Tor, so that when you connect to an onion
service, you won't be able to see or get information about the server offering the service.
At the same time, the server offering the onion service or the hidden service will not be able to get
information about you regarding your location or anything that can identify you.
Again, all of this done in order to protect the privacy and anonymity of both the server offering the
service and the user.
Now, in the next lecture, I'm going to show you how to connect to Tor, how to access a hidden service,
and you'll be able to understand this better.