Does Domain Name Encryption Increase Users' Privacy?

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2020

Authors

Trevisan, M (Author) Other; Soro, F (Author) Other; Mellia, M (Author) Other; Drago, I (Author) Other; Ricardo Morla (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Computer Communication Review

Vol. 50

Pages: 17-22

ISSN: 0146-4833

Publisher: ACM

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 0 Citations

Scopus - 1 Citation

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00S-FC2

DOI: 10.1145/3411740.3411743

Abstract (EN): Knowing domain names associated with traffic allows eavesdroppers to profile users without accessing packet payloads. Encrypting domain names transiting the network is, therefore, a key step to increase network confidentiality. Latest efforts include encrypting the TLS Server Name Indication (eSNI extension) and encrypting DNS traffic, with DNS over HTTPS (DoH) representing a prominent proposal. In this paper, we show that an attacker able to observe users' traffic relying on plain-text DNS can uncover the domain names of users relying on eSNI or DoH. By relying on large-scale network traces, we show that simplistic features and off-the-shelf machine learning models are sufficient to achieve surprisingly high precision and recall when recovering encrypted domain names. The triviality of the attack calls for further actions to protect privacy, in particular considering transient scenarios in which only a fraction of users will adopt these new privacy-enhancing technologies.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 6