K8s-Enhanced Lightweight Simulation Method for the Tor Network

• Published in: Security and Safety 2025-01
• Main Authors: Huang, Wentao, Wu, Han, Li, Zeyu, Xie, Xiaqing, Zhang, Qingfeng, Wang, Xuebin, Zhao, Jiapeng, Shi, Jinqiao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2826-1275; 2826-1275
• DOI: 10.1051/sands/2024024

Criminals exploit the robust anonymity of Tor for illicit activities, attracting more and more researchers to study de-anonymization attacks on Tor. It is difficult for researchers to conduct de-anonymization attack experiments in a real Tor network; thus, a simulation environment is required. However, most existing Tor network simulation methods are inadequate for de-anonymization attacks in realism, flexibility, and scalability, while others are prohibitively expensive. In this paper, we build a lightweight and easily scalable Tor network simulation environment using K8s (Kubernetes), and we use Docker as the basic unit for simulating the Tor relay. The results demonstrate that a thousand-scale Tor network can be simulated using four regular hosts. Furthermore, this paper presents two de-anonymization attack experiments conducted in the simulated Tor network, which serve to verify that the method is both realistic and flexible. Finally, this paper discusses the Tor network simulation method based on hybrid networking of multi-granularity relays to further balance realism and cost.