SaTC: Expanding Research Frontiers with a Next-Generation Anonymous Communication Experimentation (ACE) Framework

由于缺乏可用于安全和准确地评估大规模新算法和网络协议的实验框架，通过系统部署扩大研究前沿的能力受到了阻碍。匿名通信系统尤其如此，它通常被认为是最安全的在线通信方式之一，但很难进行实验，因为(1)它们被设计为抵抗观察，(2)实验必须非常仔细地设计，以确保它们不会危及系统的用户。该项目开发了匿名通信实验(ACE)框架，这是一个新型的开源软件平台，使隐私研究人员能够更好地了解匿名系统并进行实验。ACE支持构建大型、逼真和高保真的匿名网络模拟。ACE允许研究人员在虚拟网络上运行现有软件，使他们能够安全准确地评估新攻击和防御的有效性，并在将新协议和算法部署到实时网络之前对其进行试验。该项目旨在通过提供开发和测试框架来促进新算法和技术的开发，以实现更强大和私密的通信。ACE通过提供：(1)应用程序模拟组件，以促进语言不可知进程的执行，以支持网站指纹识别和审查规避研究；(2)轻量级网络模拟组件，其允许动态变化以支持位置和网络感知的匿名通信；(3)插入组件，以将模拟进程与模拟网络挂钩；(4)确定性模拟虚拟内核，其模拟Linux系统调用；以及(5)并行和分布式执行组件，以确保缺乏大型服务器基础设施的大学和研究实验室可以访问ACE。我们还将开发一个用户界面，一个用于模拟输入和可视化输出的工具包，以及一个用于共享和存档结果的数据存储库。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The ability to expand research frontiers through system deployment has been hindered by a lack of experimentation frameworks that can be used to safely and accurately evaluate new algorithms and network protocols at scale. This is particularly true for anonymous communication systems, which are generally understood to be among the most secure ways to communicate online, but are difficult to experiment with because (1) they are designed to be resistent to observation and (2) experiments must be crafted very carefully to ensure they do not endanger the systems' users. This project develops the Anonymous Communication Experimentation (ACE) framework, a novel open-source software platform that enables privacy researchers to better understand and experiment with anonymity systems. ACE supports the construction of large, realistic, and high fidelity simulations of anonymity networks. ACE allows researchers to run existing software on top of a virtualized network, allowing them to safely and accurately evaluate the effectiveness of new attacks and defenses, and experiment with new protocols and algorithms before they are deployed in live networks.This project aims to promote the development of new algorithms and techniques for more robust and private communication by providing a framework for development and testing. ACE significantly advances the state-of-the-art in network simulation by providing: (1) an application emulation component to facilitate the execution of language-agnostic processes in support of website fingerprinting and censorship circumvention research; (2) a lightweight network simulation component that allows dynamic changes in support of location- and network-aware anonymous communication; (3) an interposition component to hook together the emulated processes with the simulated network; (4) a deterministic simulated virtual kernel that emulates Linux system calls; and (5) parallel and distributed execution components to ensure that ACE is accessible to universities and research labs that lack large server infrastructure. We will also develop a user interface, a toolkit to model inputs and visualize outputs, and a data repository to share and archive results.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.