US government increases funding for Tor, giving $1.8m in 2013

Tor, the Internet anonymizer, received more than $1.8 million in funding from the US government in 2013, even while the National Security Agency was reportedly trying to destroy the network.

The bulk of the US funding came in the form of "pass-through" grants, money which ultimately comes from the US government distributed through some independent third-party. Formerly known as "the onion router", Tor is software which allows its users to browse the Internet anonymously.

The Tor Project also received direct funding from the National Science Foundation and the US Department of State, totaling $100,325 and $256,900 respectively.