OnionShare \u2013 Share Files of Any Size Securely and Anonymously Over Tor Network<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Of course, you can set up your alternative using a tool such as\u00a0ownCloud<\/a>, but what if all you need is a one-time-only method to share files privately and securely? On one hand,\u00a0setting up your own cloud<\/a>\u00a0for this sounds like an overkill, and using a service offered by a third party leaves your data whether you want it or not available at that third party\u2019s will, and possibly subject to government requests.<\/p>\n In this article we will explain how to use Onionshare, an open source desktop utility that allows you to share files hosted on your own computer of any size securely and anonymously using the\u00a0Tor browser<\/a>\u00a0on the other end.<\/p>\n Please note that you don\u2019t necessarily have to be distributing top secret or otherwise highly confidential data in order to be concerned with your privacy \u2013 being able to share files securely and anonymously should be something we have access to every day. Let\u2019s see how we can do it very easily.<\/p>\n As we mentioned earlier, with\u00a0Onionshare<\/strong>\u00a0you don\u2019t have to store online the files you want to share. Onionshare will start a web server locally and use a\u00a0Tor<\/strong>\u00a0service to make those files available over the Internet through the Tor network.<\/p>\n Thus, only the person with the right permissions will be able to see them for as long as you allow them to. In theory, you will want to close the web server running on your local computer as soon as the remote user is done downloading files. Enough talk, let\u2019s now install\u00a0Onionshare<\/strong>. We will use the following environment:<\/p>\n To install Onionshare in\u00a0Linux Mint<\/strong>, or another\u00a0Ubuntu<\/strong>\u00a0derivative (including\u00a0Ubuntu<\/strong>\u00a0itself), do:<\/p>\n Press enter when you\u2019re prompted to confirm whether you actually want the PPA to your software sources.<\/p>\n If you are using\u00a0CentOS<\/strong>,\u00a0RHEL<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0Fedora<\/strong>, make sure you have\u00a0enabled the EPEL repository<\/a>:<\/p>\n If you\u2019re using another distribution, you may want to follow the build instructions provided by the developer in\u00a0GitHub<\/a>.<\/p>\n Once\u00a0Onionshare<\/strong>\u00a0is installed and before launching it you will also need to install and start in the background the\u00a0Tor browser<\/a>. This will help set up the secure channel between your computer and the remote user\u2019s machine.<\/p>\n To accomplish this goal, follow these steps:<\/p>\n Step 1<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Head over to the\u00a0Tor project\u2019s website<\/a>\u00a0and download the program. At the time of this writing, the latest version of Tor is\u00a06.0.2<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Step 2<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Untar the file, change to the directory where the files were extracted, and start\u00a0Tor<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Step 3<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Connect to the Tor network. You will only need to do this once.<\/p>\n Start Tor Browser<\/p>\n<\/div>\n We are now ready to launch\u00a0Onionshare<\/strong>\u00a0from our list of installed programs (sorry the above image is in Spanish). You can either add files using the\u00a0Add Files<\/strong>\u00a0button or dragging and dropping them in the white area (\u201cDrag files her<\/strong>e\u201d):<\/p>\n OnionShare Secure File Sharing<\/p>\n<\/div>\n After you started Onionshare\u2019s web server, the files in the list become available through the given URL (see highlighted in the image above). You can then copy it using the\u00a0Copy URL<\/strong>\u00a0button and send it to the person you want to share the files with. Keep in mind, however, that this URL will not be accessible by a regular web browser such as Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari, or Internet Explorer. The other person needs to be using the Tor browser (downloads for other operating systems are available in the project\u2019s website).<\/p>\n It is important to note that protecting the URL is essential in this process. You don\u2019t want to share it over an insecure channel or non-encrypted chat service. A Google search for encrypted chat services (without quotes) will return a list of options you may want to consider to share the download URLs.<\/p>\n When the remote user points the Tor browser to the URL, he or she will be given the option to download the file. The blue button shows the changed name of the file, whereas the original appears right below. Tor will warn you that it can\u2019t open the file and advise you to download it, but warning you to be aware that in order to keep your privacy- you should avoid opening files that may circumvent Tor and connect you directly to the Internet:<\/p>\n OnionShare File Sharing Using Tor Browser<\/p>\n<\/div>\n After the download is finished, the server running on your local machine will be automatically closed by Onionshare:<\/p>\n OnionShare File Download<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Please note that even though we have illustrated the use of Onionshare with a single file, it supports the transfer of several files and folders over a single URL, and multiple persons downloading at the same time.<\/p>\n In this guide we have shown how to install\u00a0Onionshare<\/strong>\u00a0and use it, along with the\u00a0Tor<\/strong>\u00a0network, to share files securely and anonymously. With Onionshare you can forget about worrying about your privacy and the care given to your personal data by third party businesses. You\u2019re now in full control of your precious, private files.<\/p>\n To read more about\u00a0Tor<\/strong>, and find out suggestions to use the network more effectively, you may want to refer to the full list of warnings in the project\u2019s website\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"OnionShare](\"https:\/\/www.tecmint.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/OnionShare-Secure-Anonymous-File-Sharing.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nInstalling Onionshare in Linux<\/h3>\n
Local host: Linux Mint 17.3 32 bits<\/strong>\r\nRemote host: Windows 7 Professional 64 bits<\/strong>\r\n<\/pre>\n
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:micahflee\/ppa\r\n<\/pre>\n
$ sudo apt-get update\r\n$ sudo apt-get install onionshare\r\n<\/pre>\n
# yum update && yum install epel-release -y\r\n# yum install onionshare\r\n<\/pre>\n
$ tar xJf tor-browser-linux32-6.0.2_en-US.tar.xz\r\n$ cd tor-browser_en-US\r\n$ .\/start-tor-browser.desktop\r\n<\/pre>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nSummary<\/h3>\n