Re: Burning bridges was Re: [i2p] I2P's security from global passive traffic analysis

On Thu, Oct 27, 2005 at 01:37:28PM -0400, [email protected] wrote:
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> (continuing the reply w/ regards to the other non-CBR issues)
> 
> > This is as opposed to a system such as I2P operates now, where
> > connections are set up on the whim of the tunnel creator, where
> > passive traffic analysis can probably reveal where the tunnel is
> > going to, unless either its construction is so slow that it's
> > impossible to tell it from the other tunnels 
> 
> I wouldn't say construction, but operation.  Construction is just
> one packet, and payload does not immediately follow.

Hmmm. Well the idea I was trying to get across above was tied to "new
data flows", but basically, on each node, it must be plausible that a
packet going to a given node came from the local node or is forwarded
from any of several connected nodes which sent us data recently.
> 
> > (this is a serious option; users may not mind it if we give them
> > a nice GUI),

I was thinking of connection setup, or new traffic, here. Which can be
distinguished from existing flows if there is insufficient cover
traffic. Which I submit there always will be on an any-to-any network,
because most of the time a new connection flow will be A -> B -> C,
where A, B and C were not exchanging data before; it can be easily
distinguished from background traffic.
> 
> True, throttling individual tunnels to no more than X KBps has real
> potential for some applications.  I2P 3.0 will offer this [1]
> 
> [1] http://www.i2p.net/todo#batching
> 
> > or we are very lucky with cover traffic.
> 
> Tunnel creation itself doesn't require us to be very lucky, the
> attack P = (c/n)^h is negligible.  Tunnel operation against global
> passive adversaries, however, is a bitch.

It's a different c than in most of the other attacks though. If h is 3
and c is say all the nodes in the USA (via CALEA), then you have a
problem.
> 
> =jr
-- 
Matthew J Toseland - toad-EI5O+8PHWbJeeLb3ft/[email protected]
Freenet Project Official Codemonkey - http://freenetproject.org/
ICTHUS - Nothing is impossible. Our Boss says so.

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