Analysis of the Paradigm on Tor Attack Studies

Abstract

The massive popularity of Tor as an anonymity platform is undeniable as researchers have studied multiple attacks on the platform. With various attack studies that had been published over 15 years, this paper intends to survey, investigate and classify these studies' paradigm in the perspective of study type, attack mode, target type and mitigation suggestion. Knowledge of these studies' paradigm will allow for an in-depth understanding of the practice, direction and trend of Tor attack studies over the years. In addition, this will present a better comprehension on the diverse techniques used in Tor attack studies. At the end of this study, specific trends of Tor attack studies could be highlighted. Out of 85 reviewed Tor attack studies, only five is non-experimental studies. The most focus attack mode is an active attack and followed by a passive attack. For the target type, the majority of the studies is concentrating on the user as their attack target. Also, out of 85 reviewed Tor attack studies, only 32 studies had discussed a mitigation technique to their proposed attack.