Scalable Link-Based Relay Selection for Anonymous Routing

The performance of an anonymous path can be described using many network metrics – e.g., bandwidth, latency, jitter, loss, etc. However, existing relay selection algorithms have focused exclusively on producing paths with high bandwidth. In contrast to traditional node-based path techniques in which relay selection is biased by relays’ node-characteristics (i.e., bandwidth), this paper presents the case for link-based path generation in which relay selection is weighted in favor of the highest performing links. Link-based relay selection supports more flexible routing, enabling anonymous paths with low latency, jitter, and loss, in addition to high bandwidth. Link-based approaches are also more secure than node-based techniques, eliminating “hotspots” in the network that attract a disproportionate amount of traffic. For example, misbehaving relays cannot advertise themselves as “low-latency” nodes to attract traffic, since latency has meaning only when measured between two...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2009
• Where: PET
• Authors: Micah Sherr, Matt Blaze, Boon Thau Loo
• Keywords: Anonymous Paths, Link-based Path, PET 2009, Relay Selection, Security Privacy