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    A Successful Web Traffic Analysis Attack Using Only Timing Information


    Feghhi, Saman and Leith, Douglas J. (2014) A Successful Web Traffic Analysis Attack Using Only Timing Information. Working Paper. arXiv.org.

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    Abstract

    We introduce an attack against encrypted web traffic that makes use only of packet timing information on the uplink. This attack is therefore impervious to existing packet padding defences. In addition, unlike existing approaches this timing-only attack does not require knowledge of the start/end of web fetches and so is effective against traffic streams. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the attack against both wired and wireless traffic, achieving mean success rates in excess of 90%. In addition to being of interest in its own right, this timing-only attack serves to highlight deficiencies in existing defences and so to areas where it would be beneficial for VPN designers to focus further attention.
    Item Type: Monograph (Working Paper)
    Keywords: Web Traffic Analysis; Attack; Timing Information;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Science and Engineering > Research Institutes > Hamilton Institute
    Item ID: 5957
    Identification Number: arXiv:1410.2087
    Depositing User: Professsor Douglas Leith
    Date Deposited: 12 Mar 2015 16:51
    Publisher: arXiv.org
    URI: https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/5957
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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