The way things are today, it’s always best for us to have some form of encryption up and running before sharing important files on the Internet. It might sound like an overkill, but these things are necessary if you want to be on the safe side. Not everyone tends to take Internet security seriously, and if you’re one of those folks, then we urge you to think twice before sharing sensitive files over the web. Any service that doesn’t have an encryption method should be avoided like the plague, because the company behind it, hackers, and even the government can gain access to your data.
The internet isn’t safe. Therefore, one must take every precaution when sharing files with friends, families, and most importantly, business. Today, we take a look at OnionShare, an Open Source tool for the job, that lets you securely and anonymously share a file of any size.
OnionShare review
If you’re interested in feeling safe, we’d like to recommend OnionShare
OK, so OnionShare is a great open source tool for safe sharing of files over the web. With it, users can share files of any size, and guess what? The entire experience is free of cost. Now, the sharing aspect works by creating a server to make it accessible as a Tor Onion service.
How to use OnionShare
Once the user has added a file, the program creates a unique URL for the other person to use to download the added file. Additionally, the program doesn’t require the setting up of any server on the web, so worry not, it’s not difficult to get things up and running here.
One of the great things about OnionShare is the fact that users can access the Settings area via the dark button at the bottom-right corner. From here, it’s possible to configure the program to stop sharing files after the first complete download.
This ensures that only a single person can gain access to a file, so if that URL finds itself in the public arena, your file won’t be compromised.
The Tor Browser is needed
Things get even more interesting after finding out that anyone who wants to download a file from OnionShare, must be using the secure Tor Browser. For some, going this route is probably taking things too far, but from our point of view, security on the web is more important than convenience.
Bear in mind that if you’re using OnionShare to send files, you’ll also need to have the Tor Browser installed and active before launching the program.
It’s even possible to change how OnionShare connects to Tor. Just visit the Settings area, and look to the section at the top-right corner for all the available options. We decided to stick with the default option for better usability. If you know what you’re doing, then the alternative options are always a good way for connecting to Tor.
A little bit stealthy
OnionShare brings a cool feature to the table known as Stealth. Basically, it makes for a more secure service, but at the same time, it could make it difficult for the other party to connect. Clicking the “Create stealth Onion services” box should do the trick quite fine.
Overall, this is a quality program for anyone seeking improved security when sharing files on the Internet. You can download it from OnionShare.org.