De-anonymizing and countermeasures in anonymous communication networks

Abstract

To fulfill global requirements for network security and privacy, anonymous communication systems have been extensively investigated and deployed over the world to provide anonymous communication services for users. Nonetheless, diverse de-anonymizing techniques have been proposed to compromise anonymity and impose a severe threat to anonymous communication systems. In this article, we classify the existing de-anonymizing techniques and provide an overview of these techniques. In addition, corresponding countermeasures are studied to mitigate the risks posed by these de-anonymizing techniques.