Enhanced Closed-Loop Control Anonymity Protection Model with Inactive Period Feedback

The closed-loop control anonymity management model is an effective approach for users to continuously manage and control their desired level of anonymity protection in anonymous communication systems by utilizing a feedback information mechanism. However, in the original model, the feedback mechanism is limited because it provides information only about the user's active communication periods. This leaves users vulnerable to stronger adversaries, who can exploit information from their inactive periods to conduct more powerful attacks to compromise their anonymity. In this paper, we demonstrate that the original model is susceptible to improved attacks by utilizing information gathered during a user's inactive period. To address this vulnerability, we propose an enhancement to the model by introducing an additional feedback mechanism that includes information from these inactive periods. With this additional feedback, users can accurately measure their current level of protection from the adversary's perspective and take timely protective actions. Our experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model effectively preserves and maintains the desired level of anonymity protection, even against an adversary who also utilizes inactive period information to strengthen the attack.