The Russian government is offering $100,000 to anyone who can show them the method and technology that will be able to detect users coming from Tor.
Tor (The Onion Router) is a system that gives its users the ability to be anonymous on the Internet .
It routes internet traffic through a global volunteer network of servers with the aim of hiding a user's location or traffic usage from anyone conducting online surveillance.
Tor of a user online by encrypting their data and essentially transmitting their information through thousands of random routes, making it more difficult to trace.
The Russian Government's announcement was initially published on July 11, on the official website of state procurement , and went unnoticed by the general public for two weeks, until it was highlighted by human rights "activists" a few days ago.
The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs notes that it is seeking proposals from researchers who will “study the possibility of obtaining technical information about users and user equipment for the Tor network.”
The competition, which is open only to Russian citizens and businesses, requires participants to pay a $5,500 application fee. Proposals can be submitted until August 13, with the contract winner selected by August 20.
It is worth noting that in Russia the number of Tor network users skyrocketed from 80 thousand in May to 200 thousand this month.
Previously, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs had tried to ban the use of any software that offers anonymity in the country, without success.
Also, two years ago, he had voted on a controversial bill that provided for a "blacklist" for websites deemed "illegal", while defamation had been reduced to a criminal offense.
All of this comes as a follow-up to the recent bill against the anonymity of Russian bloggers, which has brought about several reactions in the country.
Source: e-pcmag.gr
