The Tor network is still safe, but the Russians are trying to change that

Jul 25, 2014 12:17 GMT  ·  By

The Russian government is reportedly increasing its efforts to kill all kinds of anonymity and privacy on the Internet by putting the target on the Tor network.

The anonymity tool is such a thorn in Russia’s side that it has started to offer money for people who can create a reliable way to decrypt data sent over TOR.

The money comes from Russia’s Interior Ministry who seems to have an issue with the growing popularity of Tor within the country, especially following the various Internet censorship efforts taken by the country’s government.

The rather large sum of money translates into $111,290 or €84,790, but it’s basically nothing compared to what someone could get on such a decryption tool. In fact, there are probably many governments out there, the United States’ included, that would like nothing better than to have such a tool to get their hands on the encrypted data going through Tor.

The NSA is already known for monitoring the Tor “doors, the access points where users’ data enters the complex set of networks that makes tracking impossible.

“Law enforcers are worried about the ability of internet users to anonymously visit the internet, and particularly blocked sites. Also, the new blogging law that comes into force in August says that all bloggers with a daily audience of over 3,000 must register their identity. But someone blogging through TOR can do so anonymously,” said a lawyer for Russia’s Pirate Party.

Only a fraction of people in Russia actually use this sort of tools, but the goal is likely much broader and seeks access and control of this area of the Internet that is currently safe from prying eyes. However, it does seem that Tor only had 80,000 users from Russia in May, but the number jumped to 200,000 this month, as revealed by Apparat.cc, an online magazine.

This is a very important issue and it’s making it obvious that Internet users in Russia are none too happy with Putin’s plans to take control over the Internet and to completely expose them when they most likely did nothing wrong other than want a bit of privacy.

This is also not the first time someone mentions taking down Tor, trying to find a de-anonymizing solution on a budget. In fact, a talk about this very subject was pulled from a Black Hat hacker conference, leaving people confused about the decision.