By using new encryption algorithms, improved authentication, and a redesigned directory, Tor claims its next-gen design will keep an onion address completely private. In the past, its network could learn about your onions, which could have resulted in info leaks and cyberattacks. Just this year, news emerged that a hacker had knocked out about a fifth of the Tor network (over 10,000 "secret" sites in total). "All in all, the new system is a well needed improvement that fixes many shortcomings of the old design, and builds a solid foundation for future onion work," writes Tor on its blog.

Users can check out the future of Tor onions by grabbing the alpha release of its browser -- which itself got an update in June that was all about limiting the amount of info it could glean about your computer.