DEANONYMIZATION OF TOR NETWORK USERS

Abstract

Tor is a virtual network that implements onion routing and aims to provide the user withthe greatest possible anonymity on the Internet. Due to ensuring a high level ofanonymity, the Tor network attracts more and more criminals, mainly pedophiles,thieves and hackers, who use the opportunities associated with it for illegal activities.This paper presents the most popular attacks on the Tor network, aimed at establishingthe identity of its users. This paper will explore ways to de-anonymize by compromisingor having enough relays, and manipulating basic network communication to end up onthe Tor traffic forwarding path. The paper will also present traffic analysis techniquesthat allow an outside observer to infer which nodes are used to transmit traffic in thecircuit. Finally, the use of artificial intelligence to recognize what pages and services theTor user is visiting will be discussed. The work aims to present the vulnerability of theTor network, which should be considered an opportunity in the fight against cybercrime,and to encourage further research on the vulnerabilities of the Tor network, aimed atidentifying cybercriminals.