Garlic routing is a variant of

onion routing Onion routing is a technique for anonymous communication over a computer network. In an onion network, messages are encapsulated in layers of encryption, analogous to layers of an onion. The encrypted data is transmitted through a series of net ...

that encrypts multiple messages together to make it more difficult for attackers to perform

traffic analysis Traffic analysis is the process of intercepting and examining messages in order to deduce information from patterns in communication, it can be performed even when the messages are encrypted. In general, the greater the number of messages observe ...

and to increase the speed of

data transfer Data transmission and data reception or, more broadly, data communication or digital communications is the transfer and reception of data in the form of a digital bitstream or a digitized analog signal transmitted over a point-to-point or ...

Michael J. Freedman Michael J. Freedman is an American computer scientist who is the Robert E. Kahn Professor of Computer Science at Princeton University, where he works on distributed systems, networking, and security. He is also the cofounder of database company ...

defined "garlic routing" as an extension of onion routing, in which multiple messages are bundled together. He called each message a "bulb", whereas I2P calls them "garlic cloves". All messages, each with their own delivery instructions, are exposed at the endpoint. This allows the efficient bundling of an onion routing "reply block" with the original message. Garlic routing is one of the key factors that distinguishes

I2P The Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is an anonymous network layer (implemented as a mix network) that allows for censorship-resistant, peer-to-peer communication. Anonymous connections are achieved by encrypting the user's traffic (by using ...

from Tor and other privacy or

encryption In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can de ...

networks. The name alludes to the garlic plant, whose structure this protocol resembles. "Garlic routing" was first coined by Michael J. Freedman in Roger Dingledine's Free Haven Master's thesis Section 8.1.1 (June 2000), as derived from

Onion Routing Onion routing is a technique for anonymous communication over a computer network. In an onion network, messages are encapsulated in layers of encryption, analogous to layers of an onion. The encrypted data is transmitted through a series of net ...

. However, the garlic routing implementation in

differs from the design proposed by Freedman. The key difference is that garlic routing has unidirectional tunnels, whereas mainstream alternatives like Tor and Mixmaster use bidirectional tunnels.

Garlic Cast: Lightweight and Decentralized Content Sharing

One potential implementation of the Garlic Routing protocol is shown in the paper, ''Garlic Cast: Lightweight and Decentralized Anonymous Content Sharing''. The idea is to provide a resilient and low latency anonymous content sharing network based on garlic routing. The distinguishing benefit that makes the system different from traditional Tor networks is that it is designed around secure, fast communication. This is made possible by allowing the garlic cast system to use random walks to find proxies in the overlay network and then use the security-enhanced Information Dispersal Algorithm to deliver content in a secure and fast manner. Lastly, the garlic cast network is designed to be highly resistant to a wide range of attacks while still providing a high level of anonymity.

List of P2P applications that use garlic routing

, an anonymizing

overlay network An overlay network is a computer network that is layered on top of another network. Structure Nodes in the overlay network can be thought of as being connected by virtual or logical links, each of which corresponds to a path, perhaps through ...

which allows applications to run on top of it (open source, written in Java) *

Perfect Dark ''Perfect Dark'' is a first-person shooter developed and published by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console in 2000. The first game of the '' Perfect Dark'' series, it follows Joanna Dark, an agent of the Carrington Institute research ...

, a P2P client which relies on a mixnet and distributed datastore to provide anonymity (freeware, written for

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

)

References

Anonymity networks Network architecture Cryptographic protocols Cryptography Garlic routing Key-based routing Mix networks Onion routing Routing {{network-software-stub

Garlic Cast: Lightweight and Decentralized Content Sharing

List of P2P applications that use garlic routing

See also

References