Group Anonymity in Security Protocols

Abstract

Group anonymity, as an instance of information hiding, means that an agent is not identifiable within a group of agents with respect to an observer. In this paper we define group anonymity in security protocols by taking into account two types of observers: honest agents, as local observers of the protocol execution, and intruders (active or passive), as global observers of the protocol execution. It is shown that an action may be group anonymous in a protocol under a passive intruder but not in the same protocol under an active intruder, and vice versa. In case of basic-term actions, group anonymity in a protocol under an active intruder implies group anonymity in the same protocol under a passive intruder. A broad spectrum of relationships between group anonymity for various types of actions is developed, as well as relationships between group anonymity, minimal anonymity, and role interchangeability. Finally, the decidability and complexity status of the decision problems induced by these concepts is completely discussed. Thus, it is shown that group anonymity and role interchangeability are undecidable in unrestricted protocols. Group anonymity is complete for NEXPTIME when it is restricted to basic-term actions and bounded security protocols, and it is complete for NP when it is restricted to basic-term actions and 1-session bounded security protocols.