Do you happen to hang out in star bucks, Macdonald’s or around a public library where internet browsing is actually free? Well I do, considering it gives me the opportunity to get some fresh air and a chance to check out what the world has to offer.

But beware, it comes at a price, a hidden one !! Free as it may sound, it is an unsecured network, and an idiot browsing the same network could sniff the traffic for passwords and confidential information. This is not funny at all because you could become a victim.

So how do I secure myself from such idiots, who think they have the right to steal and use my information, because I happen to like free surfing?

I use Tor. Tor helps me anonymize my web browsing and publishing, instant messaging, IRC, SSH, and other applications that use the TCP protocol.

It also comes bundled with an application named “Privoxy”, which prevents my computer from automatically sending personal information to websites.

Well so how much does it cost? Well everything comes at a price, and Tor certainly does come with a price too. It does cost me time because it is slow. It is slow because WebPages are transmitted through several servers around the world to get to the computer of the user.

You can download Tor from http://tor.eff.org/download.html.en . So Beware of free wifi hotspots, you have been warned.