A bit about Tor and the Russian-language .onion-space

Instead of intro

Articles about Tor are not so rare. Indeed, the past few years, this wonderful network is gaining increasing popularity. It is a pity that this is not happening so swiftly and not at all in the way that we, its inhabitants, would like. At first glance, the causes of these events lie on the surface. But if with the growth of popularity everything is relatively clear, then at its speed and structure it is worthwhile to stop in some detail. Let's try to figure out how and why we came to the current state of this network, what to do and even who (or, rather, what) is to blame (o).

About popularity

Actually, the popularity growth factor itself consists of the three main functions of Tor today: anonymization, use to bypass all sorts of locks and access to .onion resources. In that order, from the most popular destination to the least used. Let us dwell on each of the three points in more detail:

1. Anonymization

As you know, Tor is an anonymous network of virtual tunnels that provides data transmission in an encrypted form. Accordingly, its main and most logical purpose is to allow browsing websites anonymously, to hide the identities of users of the network. The task is very relevant today and Tor handles it very well. However, let's think about who might be interested in this functionality? Obviously, those who wish to hide their identity when using the Internet. This is followed by a disappointing conclusion about most of the public that uses this software - all sorts of scoundrels and paranoids. It is difficult to imagine an average user who intends to complicate his life in pursuit of anonymity. How much this conclusion is justified - we decide later.

2. Bypassing locks

It is not a secret for anyone that in different parts of our planet, users are blocked off from the full access to the worldwide network. Recently, this trend has been observed in our country. Without going into details, we note that almost everyone affected by these prohibitions includes Thor in the list of recommended software, with which it is easy to bypass these same locks. However, due to the existence of simpler ways of dealing with bans and the likelihood of such functionality in the "Torah", this use case is less popular. However, having paid attention to the target audience of this functional, we will marvel at its breadth - in fact, almost all runet users in one form or another may face blocking and some of them will choose Tor as the way to deal with the latter.
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3. View .onion sites

Among other things, Tor provides access to the .onion internal network domain where sites that are accessible only within the onion network are hosted. This aspect of using Tor is the most interesting and least lit up. Let's try to fix it by telling about it in more detail.

A bit of history

The Russian-speaking .onion-space cannot boast of a history comparable to the history of Runet, and it is foolish to consider it in isolation from the latter. The first more or less significant beginnings of a ru-onion of steel will appear in 2012 with the advent of more stable versions of Tor. Also, do not exclude the influence of Bitcoin, which is inextricably linked with the development of the network.

The first sites could not boast of anything interesting to a decent public: nationalistic and pornographic forums, a couple of small imageboards and other small websites, such as the infamous RussianRoad. However, in March of the twelfth year, Runion opens, then R2D2, RAMP and a couple of smaller resources follow.

2013 brings with it the rise of Tor popularity. Amberoad, a dozen imageboard, marketplaces and other sites are opening. Due to increasing popularity, the network is exposed to an invasion of schoolchildren and other socially failed elements who have decided to look here for everything that is attributed to rumors arising from a weak acquaintance with the reality and vigorous fantasy of bloggers and the media.

August 2013 is usually associated with the fall of FH. I think, the respected public should not be told in detail about this, it is worth only to note that it’s almost completely ru-onion, which cannot but be good news, given the reputation of FreedomHosting.

2014 brought news of a critical vulnerability in OpenSSl. This news shook not only the RuNet, but also the Rou-onion, but the most active administrators took prompt action, covering the dangerous vulnerability.

Modern Roux

Big Four

The Big Four are the four largest resources of ru-onion as of this fall. It is from them that one can judge the current state of the network. Some may grin when they see the webdvol forums, but minimalism is dictated by security considerations and the limitations imposed by Tor.

Amberoad
Ambroad is the youngest resource in the Quartet, positioning itself as a free general marketplace with a forum for communication. The only resource that has a chat combined with the forum.

R2D2
22 is a closed resource with a trading bias, lately due to poor availability and a low influx of newbies giving weak signs of activity. Flourish trade invites. A number of topics are forbidden for discussion. The only one in the big four that requires constant javascript to enter the site.

RAMP (Russian Anonymous MarketPlace).
Ramp is a highly specialized trading resource. The most visited in the four, which clearly shows the regret of the current situation in the ro-onion.

Runion (Russian Onion Union).
Runyon is a security forum, positioning itself as a zone of free communication with the trading branch. It covers the widest range of topics discussed and is the most open platform in the top four.

Remaining resources

RUForum, Russian Road - trading floors with unfair administration and zero attendance. Simply put - scam.

"Brave Bunny" is Blokchain's Russian answer. As planned, it should be even more anonymous and safe, in fact - performance under a big question.

MALINA is another half-dead marketplace.

PsyCo - Ukrainian Psy Community. The whole point is in the title.

Maxima Culpa is a virtual confessional. Well, why not.

Sat-forum in the deep web - satellite pirates forum.

A dozen imageboard and a hundred mirrors of the sites of the so-called clearnet (as the torus refers to sites outside the ion-domain), a couple of hundred sites pages, personal sites, shops and ghost sites.

Network location

Visiting the sites from the list, you yourself could notice all the distress of the current situation within the network. With such rich opportunities, most resources overlap only with the most practical minimum of functions - to sell something forbidden, discuss the latest news and absorb another stupid question.

It is worth noting that this tendency exists from the very beginning of the ru-onion functioning, and those few who are trying to change something, have failed and are forgotten.

Who is to blame?

It is guilty, first of all, human ignorance and laziness. Few people in our time want to leave a cozy social network for the sake of a forum on an old engine, people see no reason to do this. Most of those who visit the network go here by no means sharing their knowledge, learning new things and filling in the gaps, not for the sake of communicating with people close in spirit. And here you can specify the next guilty - the media, diligently showing Tor with only one, the least attractive for those people whom we would like to see here, the parties. People diligently fan the rumors and fables. People intent on denigrating all onion-space. Here it is worth mentioning the third guilty side - the creators of the very resources that show the worst side of Tor.

The question about network users was mentioned above. We can confidently say that about 40% of these are schoolchildren who have heard enough tales about her. Another 30% - all sorts of addicts who came to buy a portion of the poison. 25% - the average users of the runet, accidentally wandering here, decided to ask another exciting question. And only 5% are people who have come to learn new things and share their knowledge.

And what to do?

As mentioned above - this situation does not suit the most passionate inhabitants of the network. The first and most obvious step is to show you the other, better side of the onion, dispel ridiculous rumors and tell why we are all glad to be here.

Perhaps we will start?

PS Decided to do without links for now, everything is on hiddenwiki.