Why Anonymizer instead of Tor?

Tor is a free anonymizing service operated by volunteers.

You can read about Tor on its FAQ page.

First, the Secure Surfing Organization is an unabashed fan of Anonymizer.

Second, the Secure Surfing Organization definitely does support the Tor project and we happily recommend it to technically-inclined users who are willing to devote the time required.

For users who want secure anonymous surfing without giving up most of the speed of their internet connection,    Anonymizer is simply a better solution.Even the Tor developers acknowledge that the system is slow, primarily because it relies on thousands of volunteer users operating independent proxies. As your web traffic is bounced among different home computers it is necessarily going to be slowed, first by the fact that multiple bounces or re-routings are required to achieve the anonymous surfing effect and second by the fact that the computers are home volunteer computers and not enterprise system servers.

Tor is free and that is excellent. The Anonymous Surfing package from Anonymizer costs about $30.00 and we think that’s a trivial price to pay for a full year of hardened secure private internet.

The trade off, other than time and money, comes down to trust.

There are no reasonable circumstances in which we can conceive of a company destroying its entire basis for business. That is what would happen if Anonymizer compromised the privacy of its users. It’s entire reason for existing would disappear.

That being said, it is not entirely  paranoid to be concerned that Anonymizer is governed by intrusive U.S. citizen surveillance laws and practices. But, if you are trying to protect your privacy rather than escaping detection while engaging in serious criminal offenses, there is almost zero chance Anonymizer will comply easily with any request to turn over logs of your web browsing.

For those who want the faster internet connection and the most secure traffic, Anonymizer’s Total Net Shield is the product of choice.

Anonymizer Total Net Shield uses SSH to encrypt Web communications protecting your identity from pharmers, phishers and snoops. What this means is that not only is your IP address hidden, but all traffic is securely encrypted. Thus even in the worst case scenario and Anonymizer was compelled to turn over the browsing logs, the most that would be gained is a record of the fact that you at some point did visit particular web sites. What you did on those sites would remain your secret.

Tor is a good project and we hope it continues to develop. It does have some weaknesses that the developers fully recognize. It’s greatest strengths — that it is open source and volunteer supported — also contribute to some weaknesses. For 30 bucks, we just think the average internet user is much better served with the ease, speed and proven track record of Anonymizer.

Here’s how Anonymizer describes their own service

Protection Beyond Anti-Virus and Firewall Programs

Anonymous Surfing protects your privacy and your identity by preventing cyber criminals from detecting your personal information and tracking your online activities.

Does Anonymizer Software Hide My IP Address?

Anonymous Surfing enables anonymous Web browsing which hides your IP address so online snoops are unable to track the sites you visit and build profiles on your Internet activities. By redirecting your Web traffic through our secure servers, your online identity is protected. Our servers are armed with 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, similar to that of your bank.

How Else Does Anonymizer Software Protect Me?

Additionally, Anonymous Surfing also protects you from inadvertently visiting Web sites that are known to be phishing, pharming, or spyware sites. If you unknowingly attempt to visit one of these sites, a warning page will display to notify you of the hidden dangers that are lurking ahead.

How Does Anonymous Surfing Protect Against Phishing, Pharming and Evil Twin Attacks?

Engineered with your protection in mind, Anonymizer’s anonymous web browsing capabilities are among the safest and most secure available for consumers. Because there is a need for more than just another IP hider for anonymous Web browsing, Anonymous Surfing includes much more protection for you.

Phishing

Phishing threats lure unsuspecting email recipients into clicking a link in an email that appears to be from their bank. The email asks them to update their account information. However, these clever scams are simply trying to steal your personal information, credit card information, and more.

Anonymous Surfing has a real-time anti-phishing feed that integrates into your Web browser protecting you against phishing scams. Updated every fifteen minutes, this added protection automatically displays a warning to notify you that you are being led to a known phishing site.

Pharming

Pharming attacks are similar to phishing in nature, but they don’t rely on you clicking on a fraudulent email. Pharming attacks are even more dangerous because they are able to redirect you to a fraudulent Web site even if you type the URL into your Internet browser.

Anonymous Surfing protects against pharming threats by routing all of your Internet traffic through our hardened, secure servers. In addition, when you have Anonymous Surfing activated, your Host file is never accessed so even if it’s corrupted, you will still arrive at your intended destination safely.

Evil Twins

Evil twins trick wireless users into connecting a laptop or PDA to a tainted hotspot by posing as a legitimate wi-fi provider. Once you connect to their wireless network, the evil twins can watch your online activities and steal your confidential information such as account numbers and passwords.

Anonymous Surfing protects against evil twins by routing all of your Internet traffic through our secure servers, thus bypassing the fraudulent hotspot.