Installing software on Linux is usually very easy. There are several ways to install Tor Browser, and as I mentioned, we'll discuss a few in this chapter.

Let's start with a classic installation, by accessing the Tor Project website, via a browser. The default browser that ships with Ubuntu is Firefox, which is what we'll use.

Although you might think that this would be the best way to install Tor Browser, it's actually the least secure, since the Tor Project website is continuously targeted by hackers and might have any number of security or privacy issues on it.

Instead of just downloading Tor Browser and immediately installing it (which is dangerous), you can either download the file and verify its hash (to verify that it is indeed the correct one), or you could install it through other methods, for example, via the Terminal, by using Linux commands, or from the Ubuntu Software Center.

We'll start by going over the steps to download Tor Browser from the Tor Project website:

1. After booting your Linux installation, open your browser
2. Enter the following address and navigate to it: https://www.torproject.org/download/download-easy.html.en#linux.

Notice that the URL takes you directly to the Linux download section of the Tor Project website.

I usually prefer this direct method, rather than starting with Google (or any other search engine), searching for Tor, and then accessing the Tor Project website, since, as you may know, Google collects information about users accessing it, and the whole idea of this book is to maintain our privacy and security. Also, always verify that you're accessing the Tor Project website via HTTPS.

3. Choose the correct architecture (32 or 64 bit), and click the Download link.

4. You'll be able to choose what you want to do with the file—open it with Ubuntu's Archive Manager, or save it to a location on the disk:

Again, the quickest way to go would be to open the compressed file, but the more secure way would be to download the file and to verify its hash, before doing anything else.

The Tor Project provides GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) signature files, with each version of Tor Browser. You will need to install GnuPG on your Linux OS, if it isn't there already, in order to be able to verify the hash of the browser package.

To do so, just open the Terminal and type in the following:

sudo apt install gnupg

Enter your password when required, and the installation will commence.

Most Linux installations already include gnupg, as can be seen in the following screenshot:

 After installing GnuPG, you need to import the key that signed the package. According to the Tor Project website, the Tor Browser import key is 0x4e2C6e8793298290.

The Tor Project updates and changes the keys from time to time, so you can always navigate to: https://www.torproject.org/docs/verifying-signatures.html.en to find the current import key, if the one in the book doesn't work.

The command to import the key is as follows:

gpg --keyserver pool.sks-keyservers.net --recv-keys 0x4e2C6e8793298290

This is followed by this:

gpg --fingerprint 0x4e2C6e8793298290

This will tell you whether the key fingerprint is correct.

You should see the following:

Now, you need to download the .asc file, which is found on the Tor Browser Downloads page, next to the relevant package of the browser (it appears as sig, short for signature):

You can find the Tor Browser download page here: https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html

Now, you can verify the signature of the package, using the ASC file.

To do so, enter the following command in the Terminal:

gpg --verify tor-browser-linux64-7.5.6_en-US.tar.xz.asc tor-browser-linux64-7.5.6_en-US.tar.xz

Note the 64 that I marked in bold. If your OS is 32-bit, change the number to 32.

The result you should get is as follows:

After verifying the hash (signature) of the Tor Browser package, you can install it.

You can do so by either:

• Double-clicking the Tor Browser package file (which will open up the Archive Manager program), clicking Extract, and choosing the location of your choice.
• Right-clicking the file and choosing Extract here or Extract to and choosing a location.

After extracting, perform the following steps:

1. Navigate to the location you defined.
2. Double-click on the Start-tor-browser.desktop file to launch Tor Browser.

3. Press Trust and Launch in the window that appears:

Notice that the filename and icon changed to Tor Browser.

4. Press Connect and you will be connected to the Tor network, and will be able to browse it, using Tor Browser:

Before we discuss using Tor Browser, let's talk about alternative ways to install it, for example, by using the Ubuntu Software application.

1. Start by clicking on the Ubuntu Software icon:

2. Search for Tor Browser, then click on the relevant result:

3. Then, click Install.
4. After entering your password, the installation process will start. When it ends, click Launch to start Tor Browser.