The term "anonymous trust" is an oxymoron

[bscott at ntisys.com]

  This is related to the recent thread entitled "p2p, anonymity and
security".

  One thing I see a lot in crypto and privacy discussions is the concept of
"anonymous trust".  In context to the discussion in question, it applies to
the desire for a peer-to-peer system which can be trusted to protect the
anonymity of users of said P2P system.

  The term "anonymous trust" is an oxymoron.  It is an inherent
contradiction.

  Case in point: In order to provide anonymity, you have to be able to trust
other members of the system.  Their system could be hijacked by trojan
software, or they might be a hostile force.  Said hostile force might be
using a modified version of the system which is programmed to lie about the
anonymous nature of the connection.  If their identity is anonymous, you
cannot know anything about them.  If you *do* know, then, by definition, it
is no longer anonymous, and it can thus be traced, given sufficient effort.

  The peer you connect to on a P2P network might be some guy in Asia... or
it might be a honey-pot configured by RIAA storm-troopers.  You cannot know.

  Something to keep in mind.

-- 
Ben Scott <bscott at ntisys.com>
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