Re: RemailerNet

In message <199408120649.XAA07108@ucsd.edu> Lance Cottrell writes:
> >Actually, the odds are better than this, .8^5, about 0.33.  You will be
> >compromised "only" 1/3 of the time.
> >
> >But if you are sending regular messages to another party, then traffic
> >analysis will quickly show that you are communicating, because even if
> >the boys at Langley are really dumb, you won't make send more than
> >two or three messages without having all the cherries lining up.
> >
> >You will be protected if you have encrypted your messages, but using
> >a remailer network offers little additional protection.
> 
> I am not sure I see why you think that the "cherries" will line up.

Remember that the original assumption was that you were choosing five
remailers at random, on each transmission. I argue against this
strategy; I think that if you know someone is reliable you should
stick with them.

80% of the remailers are compromised, so 2/3 of single messages get
through OK, 45% of two message sequences, 30% of three message
sequences, etc.

If a population of users selects five remailers at random and sticks
to their initial selection, 1/3 of the population will be compromised
immediately.  Langley will have to try harder to get the rest.
--
Jim Dixon

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In article <5445@aiki.demon.co.uk>, you wrote:
> In message <199408120649.XAA07108@ucsd.edu> Lance Cottrell writes:
> > >Actually, the odds are better than this, .8^5, about 0.33.  You will be
> > >compromised "only" 1/3 of the time.
> > >
> > >You will be protected if you have encrypted your messages, but using
> > >a remailer network offers little additional protection.

> Remember that the original assumption was that you were choosing five
> remailers at random, on each transmission. I argue against this
> strategy; I think that if you know someone is reliable you should
> stick with them.

I'm not sure what other people think of the "trustworthiness" of various
remailers, but when chaining I usually bounce it through two, AND the
first leg goes offshore to hacktic which seems superably reliable. After
that, it goes to either wimsey or ghio. Be better to hacktic and then
another Euro-mailer before going back to North America, but what other
European remailers are as reliable as hacktic?

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