Re: Improving remailers

[Pete Chown <Pete.Chown@skygate.co.uk>]

Anonymous wrote:

> It is very simple for a nym server like
> nym.alias.net to determine approximately the maximum number of
> remailers used in a reply chain by examining the size of the reply
> block being used.

Possibly, then, there is a case for allowing a certain amount of
garbage to be added to the end of a reply block.  Information about
the length of the remailer chain should probably be kept secret, since
it gives an attacker an approximate idea of how secure a nym is.

That said, this is probably "nice to have" rather than "essential".

> Why not have
> all anonymous remailers support some kind of nym-like capability
> where the reply block/s can be spread out over several remailers so
> that it is impossible to determine the size or number of reply
> blocks?

Probably because it makes the remailer operators a target.  At the
moment, if the Bad Guys break down your door, you just say you've no
logs and that is the end of it.  Nym information has to be stored
permanently, so makes the remailer operators more vulnerable.

I agree, though, that it would be nice to have more nym servers.  If
there was more than one (I only know of nym.alias.net) you would
probably be able to distribute your reply blocks without the need for
any server-side changes.  You could just submit the request to create
one nym with another nym.

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