You’ve probably heard about the “Dark Web”, “Deep Web”, or “Darknet”. These are all terms, although somewhat inaccurate, used to describe the Tor project, a network of volunteer based computer systems all over the world designed to make tracing traffic passed through it’s gateways impossible.
The Tor network, like many other things is not negative in itself. Started in 1995 by the Naval Research Lab, the concept is simple; pass traffic through multiple encrypted servers to reach a destination, instead of a 1:1 connection and people won’t be able to trace who is sending the data or what the data is. So, who needs this kind of privacy?
While the Tor network has a reputation for illegal activity it’s estimated that fewer than 10% of all Tor network sites are involved in illegitimate acts. The vast majority of users are privacy conscious citizens, journalists, corporations who do not want trade secrets revealed, and law enforcement (among others). The Tor network is a great means to help keep those who don’t need to know anything about you from doing so.
To function, the Tor network needs relays, the middle servers through which traffic is passed. Almost exclusively owned by individuals who volunteer their internet and hardware, relays are de-centralized. CJC Solutions operates just such a relay and donates bandwidth to increase the speed and stability of the Tor network.
Find out more about the Tor Project: https://www.torproject.org/about/history/ Or how you can run a relay too: https://community.torproject.org/relay/