Re: ServerDesc

[Nick Mathewson <nickm@alum.mit.edu>]

[cc'ing to mixminion-dev]

On Fri, 2003-01-10 at 14:18, Len Sassaman wrote:
> Okay. BTW, is there a way to query a node for its ServerDesc directly?

Not now.

> Relying on the existance of directory servers shouldn't be a requirement
> for operation.

Actually, it is.  From the design paper:
        
        Moreover, an adversary without control of a directory server can
        still exploit differences among client knowledge. If Eve knows
        that mix $M$ is listed on server $D_1$ but not on $D_2$, she can
        use this knowledge to link traffic through $M$ to clients who
        have queried $D_1$.  Eve can also distinguish traffic based on
        any differences between clients who use directory servers and
        those who don't, between clients with up-to-date listings and
        those with old listings, and (if the directory is large and so
        is given out in pieces) between clients who have different
        subsets of the directory.
        
        So it is not merely a matter of convenience for clients to
        retrieve up-to-date mix information.

-- 
Nick Mathewson <nickm@alum.mit.edu>