-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On 02/29/2016 06:38 AM, Georgi Guninski wrote:
Is it theoretically possible at all to make low latency anonymity of sufficiently decent quality?
"sufficiently decent" is not well defined i agree.
Bingo. How fast do you want web pages to load, vs. how much do you want it to cost to de-anonymize your traffic? In the case of TOR, it has long appeared to me that its leading design objectives include competing on the speed front with unprotected networking and VPN services. The benefits of this competition include a larger user base = larger anonymity set. The drawbacks include "the government that pays for TOR also has the capability to defeat TOR." Last time I checked, the TOR Browser ships with NoScript turned off by default, leaving it unprotected against a large family of side channel attacks. This choice also looks like a convenience for technologically naive end users, again degrading the core security mission for the sake of a larger user base. In this case we do know that hostile State actors have used the deficiency to unmask users, via a honey pot attack exploiting javascript to phone home and report the users' IP addresses. Leaving fill traffic on the "to do list" forever, pending the disappearance of vocal advocates who claim that cover traffic is not practicable - either "impossible!" or due to a perceived head-to-head performance contest with unprotected networking - completes the picture of a State sponsored cryptographic tool breakable by the State that funds it (but nobody else so far).
Replace "sufficiently decent" by "perfect", or define it to be "provably intractable" and do not assume hardness not proved unconditionally, like P != NP.
I personally consider TOR sufficiently decent to positively lock out routine commercial surveillance of end users. Sufficiently decent to provide reliable protection against NSA assets when combined with physical OpSec, i.e. covertly using open WiFi routers and single use disposable computers for brief one-off sessions. Sufficiently valuable as an NSA collection asset to discourage routine harassment or prosecution of TOR users for petty offenses, which would reveal to more "valuable" targets that TOR does not protect them. So far we are only talking about passive attacks by an actor who can observe both ends of most TOR network connections. More costly active attacks could defeat /any/ anonymizing network protocol based on onion or garlic routing protocols. So whether or not to "fix" TOR at the cost of alienating the bulk of its user base due to performance issues might merit some debate. My preferred solution: Defund the the agencies that can and almost certainly do defeat all current network anonymity protocols. My program for accomplishing this objective: Wait. They are hell bend on self destruction and Nature will provide. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.22 (GNU/Linux) iQIcBAEBAgAGBQJW1EP3AAoJEDZ0Gg87KR0LpIIP/3wB/+9xc01hLSi6nyzxzARH tz3YlyimkNyK79z7fu1uh6ZoHu72i23Ll7z5UUNKHpqcMhJVE8+PqvdESjLCcPOj ZLh1vwVv1+D/HRh5293i1kyIgDqwurzKxBvcJjYdjOzBPC9iCl9GpMtByVAdtn1D z4XF6t6dcj+2MUr9zN8W2hQY8dvIircahMQwL3LlItLQJeOTN0AKH0M4YGcDC9M+ QENwQwLK3V5gRcrv0cHu8IsciO2HU8vm/tuCjyxVLxQfwhN+SAVjai08gDJ2OKp7 8Lscq9TPqlJ2e2vMX9e4aFYIWGWscJ9qPUI2DbSemRFSBC8o7VTYEQK6/1JCCcsQ xxA3AklszTIhpeLnCjOaGuXjki6RumPq2YGb8I0hc9bY5/J6eTrXEIXzaTNhTSLp Nn8qVyV9Bbk9BkneNEbWo2XBW54mthypwMeS0NSvbFKpY4JFGHVpeHrAvPHTiAYJ ej0y+VlaFMhF76esR0XNEKYEAE2S1C+KWnhE7ZJ4SKI7/8eEzqNMt4nX+MrTtZVq XUZ6eVvysH3/ck/zV6sG1i2EvFd7KeSm9SklYScjHp3HbQAHqhS0qdtmR3HZdYb3 e8KmtTLLWQ+IRHcpuBSxr7zrV8o6+SSDJOCosK0ErV/CPsjIesOjPg35Gt9WG4vG 5G/U1XG3xCNqDbaKkygT =6qF2 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----