Making a nymbler nymble using VERBS

Abstract

We propose a new system modeled after Nymble. Like Nymble, our scheme provides a privacy-preserving analog of IP address blocking for anonymizing networks. However, unlike Nymble, the user in our scheme need not trust third parties to maintain their anonymity. We achieve this while avoiding the use of trusted hardware and without requiring an offline credential issuing authority to guarantee that users do not obtain multiple credentials. We use zero-knowledge proofs to reduce the capabilities of colluding third parties, and introduce a new cryptographic technique that we call verifier-efficient restricted blind signatures, or VERBS, to maintain efficiency. Signature verification with our VERBS are 1-2 orders of magnitude faster than existing restricted blind signatures. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.