Elliptic Curve Is At The Core Of Internet Privacy … and it’s the Core of an Onion

As we move into an Information Age, there is a continual battle on the Internet between those who would like to track user activities, and those who believe in anonymity. The recent right to be forgotten debate has shown that very little can be hidden on the Internet, and deleting traces can often be difficult. The Internet, too, is be a place where crime can thrive through anonymity, so there is a continual tension between the two sides of the argument.

To law enforcement agencies the access to Internet-based information can provide a rich source of data for the detection and investigation of crime, but they have struggled to find evidence with the Tor (The Onion Routing) network. Its usage has been highlighted over the years, including in June 2013 when Edward Snowden, used it to send information on PRISM to the Washington Post and The Guardian. The trace of a user’s access to Web servers is thus confused with non-traceable accesses. This has caused a range of defence agencies to invest methods of compromising the infrastructure, especially to uncover the dark web.

Its development received funding from Electronic Frontier Foundation, and further developed by The Tor Project — a non-profit making organisation. Many government agencies around the World now target its cracking, such…