research-article

Exploring and Analyzing the Tor Hidden Services Graph

Authors:

Massimo Bernaschi,

Alessandro Celestini,

Stefano Guarino,

Flavio LombardiAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on the Web (TWEB), Volume 11, Issue 4

Article No.: 24, Pages 1 - 26

https://doi.org/10.1145/3008662

Published: 24 July 2017 Publication History

Abstract

The exploration and analysis of Web graphs has flourished in the recent past, producing a large number of relevant and interesting research results. However, the unique characteristics of the Tor network limit the applicability of standard techniques and demand for specific algorithms to explore and analyze it. The attention of the research community has focused on assessing the security of the Tor infrastructure (i.e., its ability to actually provide the intended level of anonymity) and on discussing what Tor is currently being used for. Since there are no foolproof techniques for automatically discovering Tor hidden services, little or no information is available about the topology of the Tor Web graph. Even less is known on the relationship between content similarity and topological structure. The present article aims at addressing such lack of information. Among its contributions: a study on automatic Tor Web exploration/data collection approaches; the adoption of novel representative metrics for evaluating Tor data; a novel in-depth analysis of the hidden services graph; a rich correlation analysis of hidden services’ semantics and topology. Finally, a broad interesting set of novel insights/considerations over the Tor Web organization and content are provided.

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Cited By

Zabihimayvan MSadeghi RDoran D(2024)Security, information, and structure characterization of Tor: a surveyTelecommunications Systems10.1007/s11235-024-01149-y87:1(239-255)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s11235-024-01149-y
Han DWang SHe ZWang ZChen WLi CYang JShi XYin X(2023)Cutting Onions With Others' Hands: A First Measurement of Tor Proxies in the Wild2023 IFIP Networking Conference (IFIP Networking)10.23919/IFIPNetworking57963.2023.10186440(1-9)Online publication date: 12-Jun-2023
https://doi.org/10.23919/IFIPNetworking57963.2023.10186440
Raman RKumar Nair VNedungadi PRay IAchuthan K(2023)Darkweb research: Past, present, and future trends and mapping to sustainable development goalsHeliyon10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e222699:11(e22269)Online publication date: Nov-2023
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22269
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Index Terms

Exploring and Analyzing the Tor Hidden Services Graph
1. Information systems
  1. World Wide Web
    1. Web mining
      1. Data extraction and integration
        Deep web
    2. Web searching and information discovery
      1. Web search engines
        Web crawling
2. Networks
  1. Network properties
    1. Network privacy and anonymity
    2. Network structure
      1. Topology analysis and generation

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on the Web

ACM Transactions on the Web Volume 11, Issue 4

November 2017

257 pages

ISSN:1559-1131

EISSN:1559-114X

DOI:10.1145/3127338

Editors:
Brian D. Davison
Lehigh University, USA
,
Marianne Winslett
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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Copyright © 2017 ACM.

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 24 July 2017

Accepted: 01 April 2017

Revised: 01 December 2016

Received: 01 July 2016

Published in TWEB Volume 11, Issue 4

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IANCIS, an EU ISEC project that involves IAC-CNR, Expert System
Italian ”Arma dei Carabinieri„

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Cited By

Zabihimayvan MSadeghi RDoran D(2024)Security, information, and structure characterization of Tor: a surveyTelecommunications Systems10.1007/s11235-024-01149-y87:1(239-255)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s11235-024-01149-y
Han DWang SHe ZWang ZChen WLi CYang JShi XYin X(2023)Cutting Onions With Others' Hands: A First Measurement of Tor Proxies in the Wild2023 IFIP Networking Conference (IFIP Networking)10.23919/IFIPNetworking57963.2023.10186440(1-9)Online publication date: 12-Jun-2023
https://doi.org/10.23919/IFIPNetworking57963.2023.10186440
Raman RKumar Nair VNedungadi PRay IAchuthan K(2023)Darkweb research: Past, present, and future trends and mapping to sustainable development goalsHeliyon10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e222699:11(e22269)Online publication date: Nov-2023
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22269
Pastor-Galindo JGómez Mármol FMartínez Pérez G(2023)On the gathering of Tor onion addressesFuture Generation Computer Systems10.1016/j.future.2023.02.024145:C(12-26)Online publication date: 1-Aug-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.future.2023.02.024
Safaei Pour MNader CFriday KBou-Harb E(2023)A Comprehensive Survey of Recent Internet Measurement Techniques for Cyber SecurityComputers & Security10.1016/j.cose.2023.103123128(103123)Online publication date: May-2023
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2023.103123
Bi H(2022)Process-Based Knowledge OrganizationJournal of Database Management10.4018/JDM.29955833:1(1-18)Online publication date: 13-May-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/JDM.299558
Tazi FShrestha SDe La Cruz JDas S(2022)SoK: An Evaluation of the Secure End User Experience on the Dark Net through Systematic Literature ReviewJournal of Cybersecurity and Privacy10.3390/jcp20200182:2(329-357)Online publication date: 27-May-2022
https://doi.org/10.3390/jcp2020018
Platzer FLux A(2022)A Synopsis of Critical Aspects for Darknet ResearchProceedings of the 17th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security10.1145/3538969.3544444(1-8)Online publication date: 23-Aug-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3538969.3544444
Lombardi FOnofri E(2022)Graph Contraction on Attribute-Based ColoringProcedia Computer Science10.1016/j.procs.2022.03.056201:C(429-436)Online publication date: 1-Jan-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.procs.2022.03.056
Bernaschi MCelestini ACianfriglia MGuarino SLombardi FMastrostefano E(2022)Onion under Microscope: An in-depth analysis of the Tor WebWorld Wide Web10.1007/s11280-022-01044-z25:3(1287-1313)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s11280-022-01044-z
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