add clarification on where Tor is inserted for Zcash

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Chelsea H. Komlo 2020-09-01 13:45:44 -04:00 committed by Chelsea Komlo
parent bf122426a0
commit 14db294657
2 changed files with 25 additions and 7 deletions

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@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ general-purpose Loopix-based mixnets~\cite{Piotrowska:2017:LAS}.
Further, we review private information retrieval (PIR) as a method which can be
used in conjunction with the above systems.
\textbf{Dandelion.}
\subsection{Dandelion.}
Dandelion~\cite{BojjaVenkatakrishnan:2017:DRB} and
Dandelion++~\cite{Fanti:2018:DLC} is a lightweight gossip protocol aimed at
adding additional network privacy for
@ -494,7 +494,9 @@ a super node to link a specific transaction to the node which originally
published that transaction.
\textbf{Tor.}
\subsection{Tor.}
\label{tor-intro}
Tor~\cite{tor-specification} is an anonymity network that today has over 2.5
million users and a network
size of over 6,500 nodes. Tor supports applications that require low latency,
@ -513,8 +515,16 @@ participants, Tor avoids epistemic or routing attacks unlike completely
decentralized networks which cannot guarantee a user or relay's view of the
network is authentic or that all users fall within a global anonymity set.
In Zcash, Tor integration can be implemented at several points: between senders
and the Zcash network, between Zcash peers, or between receivers and the Zcash
network. Because our focus is on preventing \emph{end-to-end} correlation
attacks, we focus our attention on integrating Tor to submit and receive
transactions only. While integrating Tor between Zcash peers could have some
utility, as demonstrated by our analysis, this protection can easily be
circumvented by malicious peers handling entry/exit traffic to the network.
\textbf{Loopix-based Mixnets.}
\subsection{Loopix-based Mixnets.}
While a range of mix network designs have been introduced in the literature, in
this assessment we consider only those which instantiate the
Loopix~\cite{Piotrowska:2017:LAS} design, which provides improved latency
@ -531,7 +541,7 @@ the network. However, alternative network distribution mechanisms can be used,
but similarly may be subject to epistemic and path-routing attacks similar to
other distributed networks.
\textbf{Private Information Retrieval (PIR).}
\subsection{Private Information Retrieval (PIR).}
Even though the above network anonymity systems disassociate a sender or
receiver's identity from the transaction, nodes can still observe which blocks
are being fetched and perform fingerprinting attacks using this information.
@ -758,7 +768,8 @@ following steps to provide stronger security and privacy guarantees.
In looking at Table~\ref{network-zcash-assessment}, the strongest protections
are offered by the combination of PIR along with a network anonymity tool such
as Tor or a mixnet. Because use of an anonymity network protects against
as Tor or a mixnet between senders and receivers and the edges of the Zcash
network. Because use of an anonymity network protects against
directly leaking the network identity of a user, and PIR protects against
disclosing the contents of a user's query, the combination of these methods
leaves little room for an attacker to gain advantage.
@ -774,12 +785,19 @@ itself.
Again, this observation requires that the receiver can hide the contents of
their query.
As such, our immediate-term plan to proceed with Tor integration, and will
assess PIR as a second step.
As such, our immediate-term plan to proceed with Tor integration to facilitate
sending and receiving transactions over Tor, and will
assess PIR to improve receiver query privacy as a second step.
We will continue to observe the development of production-ready mixnets as a
possible option in the future, with an eye towards large-scale adoption in
order to ensure sufficiently large anonymity sets for users.
As discussed in Section~\ref{tor-intro}, sending Peer-to-Peer traffic between
Zcash nodes may frustrate some attackers' ability to perform end-to-end
correlation attacks, but has no effect on other adversaries such
as malicious light wallets. As such, we deem integrating Tor in the P2P gossip
protocol for Zcash as low priority.
\section{Conclusion}
\label{conclusion}