[tor-bugs] #13508 [Tor]: Add messaging protocol that is resistant to traffic analysis

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#13508: Add messaging protocol that is resistant to traffic analysis
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 Reporter:  Alan                                 |          Owner:
     Type:  enhancement                          |         Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                               |      Milestone:
Component:  Tor                                  |        Version:
 Keywords:  messaging protocol store-and-        |  Actual Points:
  forward traffic analysis                       |         Points:
Parent ID:                                       |
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 This is a proposal to add a messaging protocol that is resistant to
 traffic analysis.  The protocol would allow a message of reasonable length
 to be sent to a relay, which would then store the message for a variable
 period of time before forwarding to the next relay in the circuit.
 Circuits would be built using the message store-and-forward protocol to
 send setup messages, including circuits to and from Tor hidden service
 rendezvous points.  The variable delay time could potentially be
 programmed by the client in the message wrapper.

 Clients could take advantage of this protocol (including Tor hidden
 services) to implement messaging clients that are resistant to traffic
 analysis, i.e., the variable delay between the time messages are received
 and sent would make it vastly more difficult to determine the endpoints of
 a message by observing the packets being sent between a set of relays.
 This protocol would not be suitable for "realtime" applications such as
 web browsing and voice or video communication; it would only be suitable
 for text messages, file transfer and similar non-realtime applications.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/13508>
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