As we move into an Information Age, there is a continual battle on the Internet between those who would like to track user activities, to 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 these traces can be difficult. The Internet, too, can be a place where crime can thrive through anonymity, so there is a continual tension between the two sides of the argument, and, overall, no-one has a definitive answer to say which is correct.
Tor analysis
To investigation 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 against the Tor (The Onion Network) network for over a decade. Its usage has been highlighted over the years, such as when, in June 2013, Edward Snowden, used it to send information on PRISM to the Washington Post and The Guardian. This has prompted many government agencies around the World to prompt their best researchers to target cracking it, such as recently with the Russian government offering $111,000.
At the core of Tor is its Onion Routing, which uses subscriber computers to route data packets over the Internet, rather than use publicly available routers. One thing that must be said is that Tor aims to tunnel data through public networks, and…
