The Tor Project has today announced the availability of OnionShare 2.2. With this update, users can now receive as well as send files and even host a website by including an index.html file. While you’ll have the option to make websites accessible to the public, you can also use HTTP basic authentication to lock it down with a username and password to restrict access.
With OnionShare, your computer gets turned into a local web server and an Onion link is generated so that you can access the server from another computer. Onion links are accessible using the Tor browser, providing both anonymity for you and the person connecting to your site. By default, OnionShare is configured to close the connection after each file transfer and generate a new address after each launch; both of these can be disabled which is especially useful if you want to host a site or want to create an anonymous DropBox.
The prime motivation behind OnionShare is to ensure that people such as journalists can share information securely and anonymously. Describing the in-built privacy, Micah Lee, on behalf of the Tor Project, said:
“People who visit your website will have no idea who you are – they won’t have access to your IP address, and they won’t know your identity or your location. And, so long as your website visitors are able to access the Tor network, the website can’t be censored.”
OnionShare is available for use on Windows, Linux, and macOS. You can download the latest update right now from the project’s official website.
