Government officials say they support the project because it provides potentially life-saving online security and privacy in places - such as Iran and Syria - where political dissidents often are dealt with harshly. The State Department and two federal agencies - the Broadcasting Board of Governors and the National Science Foundation - are major contributors.
The Tor Project currently has a $1.3 million annual budget, with about 15 full-time and contract employees. It also relies on 3,000 volunteers around the world who provide access to their computers. That allows the company to bounce data from one server to another, making it difficult to track.
“Tor is a publicly available tool. It is used by activists and bloggers, by average US citizens protecting against identity theft, and by military and law enforcement officers conducting investigations and intelligence gathering,’’ a State Department spokesman said.
Lisa-Joy Zgorski, a National Science Foundation spokeswoman, also cited the value of the software. “Any technology can be used for ill,’’ she said. “It is not a reason not to fund the science.’’
The popularity of the Tor Project technology among pedophiles gained media attention last fall when a group of computer hackers associated with the online collective known as Anonymous took aim at child porn websites hidden on the darknet. The so-called hactivists claimed to have disabled several child porn sites as part of an effort dubbed “Operation Darknet’’ or “To catch a predator.’’ As part of its campaign, Anonymous posted a video on YouTube pledging to fight sexual abuse.
“The darknet is a vast sea with many providers, however, we fully intend to make it uninhabitable for these disgusting degenerates,’’ a narrator says in the YouTube video. “We will never turn a deaf ear upon the screams of innocent children.’’
