"Trawling for Tor Hidden Services: Detection, Measurement,
Deanonymization"
Alex Biryukov, Ivan Pustogarov, Ralf-Philipp Weinmann
http://www.ieee-security.org/TC/SP2013/papers/4977a080.pdf
the two seem very similar. in the case of the paper linked amazon
services were utilized. or perhaps someone can explain where the two
research groups differ?
-----
You Don't Have to be the NSA to Break Tor: Deanonymizing Users on a Budget
Alexander Volynkin / Michael McCord
[...]
Looking for the IP address of a Tor user? Not a problem. Trying to
uncover the location of a Hidden Service? Done. We know because we
tested it, in the wild...
In this talk, we demonstrate how the distributed nature, combined with
newly discovered shortcomings in design and implementation of the Tor
network, can be abused to break Tor anonymity. In our analysis, we've
discovered that a persistent adversary with a handful of powerful
servers and a couple gigabit links can de-anonymize hundreds of
thousands Tor clients and thousands of hidden services within a couple
of months. The total investment cost? Just under $3,000. During this
talk, we will quickly cover the nature, feasibility, and limitations
of possible attacks, and then dive into dozens of successful
real-world de-anonymization case studies, ranging from attribution of
botnet command and control servers, to drug-trading sites, to users of
kiddie porn places. The presentation will conclude with lessons
learned and our thoughts on the future of security of distributed
anonymity networks.