The CIA launched an âonion siteâ on the Tor network designed to strengthen online security by allowing users to browse the agencyâs website anonymously. âOur global mission demands that individuals can access us securely from anywhere. Creating an onion site is just one of many ways weâre going where people are,â Brittany Bramell, CIAâs director of public affairs, said in a statement published Tuesday.Â
Wired reported that the agencyâs Tor onion service works to protect the userâs IP address and browsing activity by bouncing encrypted internet traffic through several chains of devices to make that traffic untraceable. The agency said users need to download and install the Tor browser before they can navigate the website using the given onion address.
The World Factbook, job listings and other information that can be seen on the CIAâs website are available on the onion site.