Using a Qubes Disposable VM, Tails or Whonix to open files after you've downloaded them will help mitigate many of the risks (against leaks through normal operation of the file type) but not always against exploitation. The Tor Browser actually has an explicit warning about this before you download any files.

These methods have been successfully used to deanonymize Tor users before, as well as deanonymizing state sponsored hackers targeting journalists. There are plenty it doesn't cover either. This presentation from 2015 shows a few examples of such techniques, although it is not at all extensive. So, it is safe to download file over Tor, at least about as safe as downloading them on a shared or public wireless network, for example but it is definitely not safe to open them and it will harm your anonymity. Double-click on the sktop file to launch Tor Browser. After extracting, perform the following steps: Navigate to the location you defined. This is a very old tactic of bugging files (sometimes government documents have such tracking in them, provided by a DLP contractor), so that if they are opened they can discover who opened them. Right-clicking the file and choosing Extract here or Extract to and choosing a location. However, it is almost never safe to open them outside of Tor Browser or a special environment.Įven non-executable files (documents, videos, audio files, etc) can be used to ping-back to some server on the internet and since the application opening them isn't going through Tor, you will connect outside of the Tor network.

How big is the tor download