Compatibility of Anonymity and Performance in Onion Routing Networks

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Florian Tschorsch
• Subject Area: Security and Dependability, Operating-, Communication- and Distributed Systems
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 451732324

Anonymity networks like Tor constitute an increasingly important tool to support informational self-determination on the Internet. In order to promote their future usage, it is inevitable to improve scalability and performance. This however leads to fundamental challenges in terms of the provided anonymity. The proposed project is the first to conduct a structured evaluation of the underlying conflict between performance and anonymity. It aims at quantifying the conflict as well as deriving design strategies for modern anonymization techniques. While previous research has generally treated security and performance in anonymity networks separately, this project brings the aspects together and establishes a novel understanding of the interdependencies. Based on this, the project targets the development of methods to strengthen both performance and anonymity, such that a reasonable tradeoff can be designed and realized. Especially considering increasingly powerful adversaries, this holistic approach towards both aspects is necessary for providing future anonymity networks that can be used efficiently and securely. Therefore, this project significantly contributes to preserving and strengthening a free Internet.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants