Mixmaster Message Drops

[Jim Choate]

On Wed, 8 Aug 2001, Joseph Ashwood wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jim Choate" <ravage at ssz.com>
> To: <cypherpunks at einstein.ssz.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 7:05 PM
> Subject: CDR: Re: Mixmaster Message Drops
> 
> 
> > The next major question is to determine where the drops are happening.
> > Inbound, outbound, inter-remailer, intra-remailer?
> 
> That matters from a correction view but not from a usage view, which I
> assume we're taking. Basically we don't care what technology the remailer
> uses as long as it is correct technology and trustable. From there we care
> only what remailers are disfunctional and which are useful.

It matters from a resolution perspective as well. The fact is you claim
1/20 messages are being dropped (per remailer or per submission? Do you
see any difference in drop rate dependent upon number of remailers, you
should?). That's an ASTOUNDINGLY high figure. Several orders of magnitude
over any expectation of 'normal' behaviour.

This means that not only is the technology itself under question, but its
implimentation as well.

In short, with this level of failure you can't 'trust' anything.

> Well assuming that the remailers are under attack, we start using digital
> signatures with initiation information stored in them. Mallet can introduce
> duplicates,

Duplicates are not drops, signatures do nothing for drops. You're changing
the rules in the middle of the game.

> > Q: How to inject traffic into the remailer network anonymously?
> 
> through a set of trusted remailers,

Which we don't have if we accept your numbers. Depending on the technology
you're trying to vet is a recipe for disaster (well Mallet won't think
so).


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