MuON: Epidemic based mutual anonymity in unstructured P2P networks

Authors

Neelesh Bansod, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Ashish Malgi, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Byung K. Choi, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Jean Mayo, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-10-2008

Department

Department of Computer Science

Abstract

A mutual anonymity system enables communication between a client and a service provider without revealing their identities. In general, the anonymity guarantees made by the protocol are enhanced when a large number of participants are recruited into the anonymity system. Peer-to-peer (P2P) systems are able to attract a large number of nodes and hence are highly suitable for anonymity systems. However, the churn (changes in system membership) within P2P networks, poses a significant challenge for low-bandwidth reliable anonymous communication in these networks.

This paper presents MuON, a protocol to achieve mutual anonymity in unstructured P2P networks. MuON leverages epidemic-style data dissemination to deal with churn. Simulation results and security analysis indicate that MuON provides mutual anonymity in networks with high churn, while maintaining predictable latencies, high reliability, and low communication overhead.

Publisher's Statement

Copyright © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2007.11.011

Publication Title

Computer Networks

Recommended Citation

Bansod, N., Malgi, A., Choi, B. K., & Mayo, J. (2008). MuON: Epidemic based mutual anonymity in unstructured P2P networks. Computer Networks, 52(5), 915-934. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.comnet.2007.11.011
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/706