Experience, legal advice and trusted relationships are almost certainly more important than anonymity when it comes to shielding your sources, protecting yourself and bolstering your investigation. There is very little that software can do to help address social, political and ethical issues related to the investigation, verification, analysis and publication of sensitive leaks. To be clear, there is no purely technical solution to these challenges. Tor is a piece of software that can help you hide your interest in something until and unless you decide to make that interest - or that something - public. This guide is about Tor ('the onion router'). At this point, the leak is still down the alley and around the corner.

But it also depends on the data themselves. And even if you know someone who could accomplish more with the information, you might be less comfortable sharing a leak than you are receiving one. Or it it could remain illegal regardless. And the act of possessing those data could be illegal until you are able to demonstrate their relevance to the public interest.

Or the lead itself could be a spear phishing attack. Or they could have been obtained illegally. Highly sensitive leaks sometimes fall into this category.

Citizen investigators looking to remain near the middle of the cat spectrum - somewhere between scaredy and killed-by-curiosity - must occasionally dip a toe in before taking the plunge. Unless you are are a grizzled investigative journalist with a well-known publication, a fearless editor, a stable of lawyers, a well litigated shield law, a stack of Pulitzers and a fresh backup of your hard drive, you can probably imagine a lead to which you might respond with similar caution.

Upon glimpsing a mysterious light at the far end of a dark alley, say, or hearing one's name whispered from around a corner, one could be forgiven for trying to sneak a peek before charging ahead. Process leaked data, which might come with a risk. A guide about using Tor ('the onion router') to read, verify and

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