US Patent 6266704B1 (Onion Routing)
artifactCrypto & Digital ID · Darknet & Cyber
The core technology behind Tor and the dark web started as a US Navy patent.
Who they are
US Patent 6266704B1, the Naval Research Laboratory's onion-routing patent (filed 1998, issued 2001).
What they do
It describes the method for anonymous internet connections that resist eavesdropping and traffic analysis.
How it works
It laid out the 'onion routing' infrastructure that became the cryptographic foundation of Tor and the wider dark web.
Why it matters
The desc's point is that the anonymity backbone of the dark web has military origins, not purely grassroots ones.
The engine's record — word for word
NRL onion-routing patent (filed 1998, issued 2001). Articulated infrastructure for anonymous connections highly resistant to eavesdropping and traffic analysis. The cryptographic foundation of Tor and the broader dark-web substrate.
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