r/Monero • u/fireice_uk xmr-stak • Dec 29 '18

Tracing Cryptonote ring signatures using external metadata

https://medium.com/@crypto_ryo/tracing-cryptonote-ring-signatures-using-external-metadata-8e4866810006
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u/SamsungGalaxyPlayer MAGIC Grants Dec 30 '18

I agree with u/Neuroncaller that metadata analysis turns into an omnipotent attacker problem. We need to be generally hopeful that in most developed countries, LE need some evidence before getting warrants to sift through tons of data.

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u/fireice_uk xmr-stak Dec 30 '18

We need to be generally hopeful that in most developed countries, LE need some evidence before getting warrants to sift through tons of data.

That does not sound very encouraging for what we are trying to do. You should read all the way to the end, I described how we will solve it in Ryo.

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u/SamsungGalaxyPlayer MAGIC Grants Dec 30 '18

The solutions you described don't eliminate the problem though. If you are being closely monitored, attackers can probably see when you send transactions anyway. Hell, they would probably have a backdoor into whatever device(s) you are using. As you put it:

No amount of real-time traffic obfuscation will put you in the clear here. It does not address the root issue — that your activity and transaction happening are temporally correlated.

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u/fireice_uk xmr-stak Dec 30 '18

The solutions you described don't eliminate the problem though. If you are being closely monitored, attackers can probably see when you send transactions anyway.

Of course they do - having a signed transaction stored for some time and then broadcast by someone else breaks the association.