Remailer Reliability

[b44729@achilles.ctd.anl.gov (Samuel Pigg)]

>>>>> On Fri, 3 Sep 1993 21:13:47 PDT, doug@netcom5.netcom.com (Doug Merritt) said:

	Doug> sameer@netcom.com (Sameer Parekh)
>install-script I can add this little feature. Which newsgroup? Should
>someone create an alt.remail? How exactly would it be implemented? I'm
>thinking that simply the user would do:
> [...]
>	And the remailer would post to alt.remail:

	Doug> There are two problems here. One is that the remailer
	Doug> exposes itself and defeats traffic analysis avoidance.

Not necessarily. If the "post this message to alt.remailer" command
for a smart message were executed via splitting off another message
with its own encrypted header and path through the remailers to an
anonymous posting service. (as suggested by miron@extropia.wimsey.com)

	Doug> The other is a standard transaction processing sort of
	Doug> problem; the posting to alt.remail might fail even
	Doug> though all else worked.

I agree this could certainly be a problem (esp. executed as above.)

	[..]

	Doug> b44729@achilles.ctd.anl.gov (Samuel Pigg) said:
>By breaking a message into pieces and sending them via different paths
>to the same destination ("path forking"), this can only make traffic
>analysis easier, because all the pieces lead to the same destination,
>and you can follow any of them to get to the anonymous recipient.

	Doug> Depends on how it's done. As stated this analysis
	Doug> implies that traffic analysis is *always* possible,
	Doug> since after all, the message must somehow make it to its
	Doug> destination. In other words, I disagree.

No I'm not implying that. But there really isn't any way doing that
could make such an analysis *harder*, as by splitting pieces of the
message off, you have multiple parts all going to the same
destination.  This gives the attacker redundant paths to follow,
and if the attacker can trace *any* message, he can discover
the identity of the recipient. There would be no "dead-ends" for
the attacker. (when I say "follow" I don't necessarily mean follow
in a literal sense, but any traffic based statistical analysis.)

	Doug> This needs to be done in conjunction with other standard
	Doug> cypherpunk fare, of course. The major design problem
	Doug> I've had is not with security, it's with fault
	Doug> tolerance. Statistical fault tolerance is available, but
	Doug> I prefer leaving that kind to the underlying base
	Doug> systems and networks, and trying to find a top level
	Doug> algorithm that is 100% guaranteed to either work or
	Doug> report failure, so long as the host systems/networks
	Doug> don't fail undetectably. A handshake ACK of receipt
	Doug> would help, except that it might not get back even if
	Doug> the original reached its destination.

I agree this is the major problem, with the current state of the
remailers, but it may not be a problem with a stable remailer web and
an "anonymous address server" (see my long laborious boring posts
regarding this from about a week ago.)

>follow them all), as only one will arrive there and the rest would die
>after a number of remailer hops.

	Doug> This is actually less safe than an approach which
	Doug> requires multiple pieces to arrive via multiple paths.
	Doug> Bad luck might leave your one path completely in the
	Doug> hands of bad guys (posing as cypherpunks, let's say).

I don't think so. This way there is only one (or a few) paths that
actually would lead to the recipient, and many "blind alleys" for an
attacker to follow. With the multiple-pieces-same-destination scheme
*any* one path would be enough to determine the recipient.

>I really think that non-deterministic "smart messages" are the way to
>go here.

	Doug> This I agree with; but the way that is done is critical.

>A simple command language for the remailers would allow
>the header construction software already being worked on by
>ebrandt@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (CRM) and others to use tricks
>like this to defend against attacks. 

	Doug> Cool. More info?

I'm not saying that CRM actually uses a command language (it can't--
nothing has been agreed upon/worked out yet!) but tools like CRM
would be able to use a remailer command language to tailor the
message's (or anonymous address block's) anonymity protection.
See that same long, boring post I made about a few suggestions
for what such a language could contain/be useful with.

>	The defense complexity would be a function of the users'
>header construction software and needs. People who need "minimal"
>anonymity would have simpler anonymous address blocks, as compared to
>those who require "serious" anonymity, and the remailers themselves
>would have a lighter load (not having to implement very serious
>security for *all* messages-- just those that need it).

	Doug> Strongly agree.

	Doug> BTW I consider this emphasis on batch mail to be short
	Doug> sighted. I'm designing for interactive cyberspace. I
	Doug> have a complete algorithm in mind, except I think it
	Doug> still needs some more OLTP wisdom added in.

A remailer command language could include instructions to
specify how long to hold this message (possibly to be combined
with some remailer batching functions.)

	[..]

Sam Pigg                                  dt1acaa@cfraix.cfr.usf.edu
samp@renoir.cftnet.com        <or>       b44729@achilles.ctd.anl.gov
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