Anonymous Communication Networks: Usage Analysis and Attack Mechanisms

Abstract

Privacy in communication has been an essential security requirement with the rapid growth of Internet. This has resulted in growing interest in methods for anonymous communication. Several system designs have been developed with the common aim of preserving communication privacy within the shared network environment. In this study, the structure of these systems is explained and an analysis of current anonymity technologies; proxy servers, remailers, JAP, Tor and I2P, is presented. Because Tor is the largest anonymity system currently in use, a detailed analysis is also presented. Moreover, growing interest in anonymity systems resulted in several de-anonymization techniques developed to exploit these anonymous communication systems. These techniques are also explained to better understand the security threats of anonymous communication.