If you’ve been reading my mobile security column over the past several weeks, you know that most everything you do on a public network (email, web surfing, etc.) can be monitored or intercepted. Although you can hide the information you’re sending and receiving by only visiting web sites that use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), you’re still exposing the names of those web sites and revealing to the web site owners where you’re visiting their site from. There is a solution to this issue, and it’s free.

Enter XeroBank Browser (formerly known as Torpark), or xB Browser for short. xB Browser is a special version of Mozilla Firefox web browser, bundled with anonymity tools to allow it to work with the Tor (The onion router) network.

What is Tor? Tor is a special worldwide network that allows users to anonymously bounce traffic through a random path around the globe. Surfing through Tor prevents the web sites you visit from knowing where you’re visiting from. And an added bonus is that your web traffic is completely encrypted between your computer and the Tor network. That means that no one in the coffee shop, hotel, or airport can monitor your network traffic.

Why would anyone want to use xB Browser and the Tor network? Use Tor and xB Browser to protect your privacy and sensitive personal information while using un-trusted public, like public wifi, hotel broadband networks, and airport networks. Use Tor and xB Browser to perform competitive research without revealing who you are or where you are researching from (the Tor network may route you through France, Canada, the Czech Republic, or any country where volunteers are running Tor servers). Use Tor and xB Browser to search for a new job without letting everyone on the network know what you’re up to.

Where can you get xB Browser? You can download xB Browser for free here:

http://update.xerobank.com/distro/XeroBank/xB-Browser_latest.exe

Installation is as simple as double-clicking the set-up file and following the install script. xB Browser will create a shortcut on your desktop that can be launched and used like a normal web browser (note: you can only use xB Browser when normal Firefox is not running).

Interested in thwarting coffee shop spies and identity thieves? Install and try xB Browser for free—your network traffic will be as sneaky as a stealth bomber.