From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Date: Sat, 3 Feb 1996 02:37:14 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Anonymity -> Untraceability -> High Latency?
Message-ID: <ad378db51302100407b8@[205.199.118.202]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 9:19 AM 2/2/96, Nelson Minar wrote:
>I've been trying out various mechanisms for anonymity: remailer
>chains, HTTP proxies. There's one problem that makes them inconvenient
>to use regularly: latency.

"Latency" is not necessary for mix security. What is important is the
number of messages mixed together in the mix. If it is desired that N = 10
and only 10 messages are entering the mix per hour, then, on average, the
mix must wait an hour. E.g., "latency = one hour." If however, 100 messages
are entering the mix per hour, then "latency = 6 minutes."

>A good Type I remailer chain takes at least an hour to deliver email,
>instead of the 15 seconds I'm used to. Mixmaster-style takes even
>longer; the delay is important to the security of the system.

None of these points is necessarily true.

--Tim May

Boycott espionage-enabled software!
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed.
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^756839 - 1  | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."