Improving Security and Efficiency of Mix-Based Anonymous Communication Systems

176 Pages·2015·1.91 MB·English

by  Shaahin Madani

Improving Security and Efficiency of Mix-Based
Anonymous Communication Systems
Shaahin Madani
A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy (Computer Science)
School of Computer Science and Information Technology
College of Science, Engineering and Health
RMIT University
Melbourne, Australia
April 2015

Declaration
I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of
the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to
qualify for any other academic award; the content of the thesis/project is the result of
workwhichhasbeencarriedoutsincetheofficialcommencementdateoftheapproved
research program; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is
acknowledged; and, ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed.
Shaahin Madani
April 2015
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Acknowledgements
Nothing truly valuable can be achieved except by
the unselfish cooperation of many individuals.
—Albert Einstein
Family is everything. My parents, Shirin and Taghi, who have for ever supported
me in my ventures. My sister, Shiva, who is also my dearest friend, companion and
ally. My brother-in-law, Wael, who is much more than a true brother I could have
ever dreamed of. They have always been a constant source of endless and unreserved
love and support, and have stood by me in every step of my journey. Without them, I
could have not achieved what I have today. I am deeply proud of them and eternally
grateful. They are my everything.
I would like to offer my substantial gratitude to my two supervisors,
Associate Professor Ibrahim Khalil and Professor Timos Sellis. I am thankful for
their patience, steadfast integrity, insightful feedback and dedication to both my
personal and academic development. Ibrahim and Timos have always been available
and willing to guide and help. I am very lucky to have been supervised by two deeply
knowledgeable and extensively experienced and yet truly humble and open-minded
human beings.
I wish to express my sincere love and appreciation to my friends and fellow
PhD Candidates who made this journey especially pleasant and memorable:
Mohammad Nabi Omidvar, Golnar Khomami, Arash Joorabchi, Adrian John Meade,
Reza Soltanpoor, Borhan Kazimipour, Azadeh Ghari Neiat, Dhiah Al-Shammary,
Poya Parvaneh, Jian Zhong, Ayman Ibaida, Alsharif Abuadbba and Conor Cameron.
Idearlycherishthegreattimewehavespenttogether,theinterestingandintellectually
stimulating conversations we have had, and the knowledge and experience we have
helped each other gain.
ThisworkwassupportedbyanAustralianPostgraduateAward(APA)scholarship.
I am grateful to the Australian Government for providing this generous support.
At the end, one must acknowledge that it was all about the journey and not the
destination. I did have a joyful journey, indeed.
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Credits
Parts of the work presented in this thesis have been published in the following forums:
Peer Reviewed Papers
• S Madani and I Khalil. Multi-Binomial Mix: A Proposal for Secure and
Efficient Anonymous Communication. Computer Networks: The International
Journal of Computer and Telecommunications Networking (2015). DOI
10.1016/j.comnet.2015.10.007.
• S Madani and I Khalil. Garbled Routing (GR): A Generic Framework towards
Unification of Anonymous Communication Systems. Journal of Network and
Computer Applications 44 (2014): 183-195. DOI 10.1016/j.jnca.2014.05.005.
• S Madani and I Khalil. Garbled Routing (GR): Towards Unification of
Anonymous Networks. Proceedings of the 12th IEEE International Conference
on Trust, Securityand Privacyin Computingand Communications (TrustCom).
IEEE, 2013.
• S Madani and I Khalil. Prevention of Denial-of-Service Attacks in Garbled
Routing (GR) Network. Proceedings of the International Conference on
Communication, Networks and Satellite (COMNETSAT). IEEE, 2013.
The thesis was typeset using the LATEX2ε document preparation system.
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No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his
privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his
honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection
of the law against such interference or attacks.
—Article 12, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression;
this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference
and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through
any media and regardless of frontiers.
—Article 19, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
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