Changes

Tor was created to protect US intelligence online, and was originally made by a US [[Navy Seal]]. Development started in 1997 by DARPA,  an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. However, in 2002 the Naval Research Laboratory released the code for Tor under a free license.

Tor was created to protect US intelligence online, and was originally made by a US [[Navy Seal]]. Development started in 1997 by DARPA,  an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. However, in 2002 the Naval Research Laboratory released the code for Tor under a free license.

Even subsequent government studies have concluded that Tor is difficult to infiltrate, because the government would have to penetrate all three computers handling a particular message to be able to trace it back to its origin.  Because the number of active Tor nodes is large, and the middle node is assigned at random, most of the node computers on a Tor network would have to be compromised for the privacy of the messages to be broken.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-01-23/tor-anonymity-software-vs-dot-the-national-security-agency|title=The Inside Story of Tor, the Best Internet Anonymity Tool the Government Ever Built|date=January 23, 2014 |work=Bloomburg Business|accessdate=February 29, 2016}}</ref>

Even subsequent government studies have concluded that Tor is difficult to infiltrate, because the government would have to penetrate all three computers handling a particular message to be able to trace it back to its origin.  Because the number of active Tor nodes is large, and the middle node is assigned at random, most of the node computers on a Tor network would have to be compromised for the privacy of the messages to be broken.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-01-23/tor-anonymity-software-vs-dot-the-national-security-agency|title=The Inside Story of Tor, the Best Internet Anonymity Tool the Government Ever Built|date=January 23, 2014 |work=Bloomburg Business|accessdate=February 29, 2016}}</ref>

Various other aspects of the design of TOR make it even harder to penetrate.  For instance, there are now frequently multiple middle nodes, spread across the globe, adding legal issues as well.  The "exit node" can be anywhere in the world, as can the middle node, requiring any investigation to obtain warrants internationally.  TOR also has "hidden services" which themselves connect to the internet via a TOR protocol.  While a "hidden service" can still be hacked, each service must be hacked individually, ensuring that only sites with illegal content and a large audience are taken down.  

Various other aspects of the design of TOR make it even harder to penetrate.  For instance, there are now frequently multiple middle nodes, spread across the globe, adding legal issues as well.  The "exit node" can be anywhere in the world, as can the middle node, requiring any investigation to obtain warrants internationally.  TOR also has "hidden services" which themselves connect to the internet via a TOR protocol.  While a "hidden service" can still be hacked, each service must be hacked individually, ensuring that only sites with illegal content and a large audience are taken down.