We believe that there exist classic anonymity papers which are worth reading regardless of their application domain. Rather than providing overwhelming amount of papers, we would like to provide a curated list of the awesome anonymity papers which are considered as must-reads in certain research domains.

Table of Contents

Awesome list criteria

A list of anonymity papers published from 2012 to 2025.

Papers

By Journals & Conferences

  • USENIX Security

    • 2025 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, PDF

  • S&P

    • 2025 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, PDF

  • CCS

    • 2025 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, PDF

  • NDSS

    • 2024 MirageFlow: A New Bandwidth Inflation Attack on Tor, PDF

  • Other

    • 2024 Discovering Command and Control (C2) Channels on Tor and Public Networks Using Reinforcement Learning, PDF
    • 2024 FOCI, Extended Abstract: Traffic Splitting for Pluggable Transports, PDF
    • 2024 Wireless Networks, Updated exploration of the Tor network: advertising, availability and protocols of onion services, PDF
    • 2024 N/A, GFWeb: Measuring the Great Firewall’s Web Censorship at Scale, PDF
    • 2023 IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, Exploring Uncharted Waters of Website Fingerprinting, PDF
    • 2019 IEEE Conference on Computer Communications Workshops, FlowPic: Encrypted Internet Traffic Classification is as Easy as Image Recognition, PDF
    • 2018 IEEE International Conference on Knowledge Innovation and Invention (ICKII), Tor Traffic Classification from Raw Packet Header using Convolutional Neural Network, PDF
    • 2017 IEEE International Conference on Big Data, Tor traffic analysis and detection via machine learning techniques, PDF

By Time

2024

  • NDSS, MirageFlow: A New Bandwidth Inflation Attack on Tor, PDF
  • Discovering Command and Control (C2) Channels on Tor and Public Networks Using Reinforcement Learning, PDF
  • FOCI, Extended Abstract: Traffic Splitting for Pluggable Transports, PDF
  • Wireless Networks, Updated exploration of the Tor network: advertising, availability and protocols of onion services, PDF
  • N/A, GFWeb: Measuring the Great Firewall’s Web Censorship at Scale, PDF

2023

  • IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, Exploring Uncharted Waters of Website Fingerprinting, PDF

2022

  • xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, PDF

2021

  • xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, PDF

2020

  • xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, PDF

2019

  • IEEE Conference on Computer Communications Workshops, FlowPic: Encrypted Internet Traffic Classification is as Easy as Image Recognition, PDF

2018

  • IEEE International Conference on Knowledge Innovation and Invention (ICKII), Tor Traffic Classification from Raw Packet Header using Convolutional Neural Network, PDF

2017

  • IEEE International Conference on Big Data, Tor traffic analysis and detection via machine learning techniques, PDF

2016

  • xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, PDF

2015

  • xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, PDF

2014

  • xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, PDF

2013

  • xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, PDF

2012

  • xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, PDF

Research Groups

(Thanks to @linwhitehat)

Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences/China - [Gang Xiong](https://people.ucas.ac.cn/~xionggang) (Institute of Information Engineering) - [Kai Chen](https://people.ucas.ac.cn/~kaichen) (Institute of Information Engineering) - [Qixu Liu](https://people.ucas.ac.cn/~liuqixu) (Institute of Information Engineering) - [Guozhu Meng](https://people.ucas.ac.cn/~gzmeng) (Institute of Information Engineering) - [Qingyun Liu](https://people.ucas.ac.cn/~0027674) (Institute of Information Engineering) - [Zhigang Lu](https://people.ucas.ac.cn/~luzhigang) (Institute of Information Engineering) - [Xiaodong Li](https://people.ucas.edu.cn/~LEE) (Institute of Computing Technology) - [Zhenyu Li](http://www.ict.ac.cn/sourcedb_2018_ict_cas/cn/jssrck/201111/t20111114_3395505.html) (Institute of Computing Technology) - [Yujun Zhang](https://people.ucas.ac.cn/~yujun) (Institute of Computing Technology) - [Yuqing Zhang](https://people.ucas.ac.cn/~zhangyuqing) (School of Computer Science and Technology)
Tsinghua University/China - [Ke Xu](http://www.thucsnet.org/xuke.html) - [Jiahai Yang](https://nmgroup.tsinghua.edu.cn/yjh/) - [Haixin Duan](http://netsec.ccert.edu.cn/people/duanhx/) - [Jianjun Chen](https://www.jianjunchen.com/) - [Dan Li](https://www.cs.tsinghua.edu.cn/info/1126/3948.htm) - [Yong Cui](https://www.cs.tsinghua.edu.cn/info/1126/3589.htm) - [Mingwei Xu](https://www.cs.tsinghua.edu.cn/info/1126/3580.htm) - [Xia Yin](https://www.cs.tsinghua.edu.cn/info/1126/3578.htm) - [Qi Li](https://www.insc.tsinghua.edu.cn/info/1157/2851.htm) - [Dan Pei](https://www.cs.tsinghua.edu.cn/info/1127/3597.htm) - [Zhiliang Wang](https://www.cs.tsinghua.edu.cn/info/1127/3593.htm) - [Chao Zhang](https://netsec.ccert.edu.cn/chs/people/chaoz/)
Zhejiang University/China - [Shouling Ji](https://person.zju.edu.cn/sji#0) - [Wenyuan Xu](https://person.zju.edu.cn/wyxu#0) - [Meng Luo](https://person.zju.edu.cn/mengluo#0) - [Kui Ren](https://person.zju.edu.cn/kuiren) - [Fan Zhang](https://person.zju.edu.cn/fanzhang)
Harbin Institute of Technology/China - [Weizhe (James) Zhang](https://homepage.hit.edu.cn/wzzhang) - [Xiangzhan Yu](https://homepage.hit.edu.cn/yuxiangzhan) - [Hui (Sophia) He](https://homepage.hit.edu.cn/huihe) - [Junbao Li](https://homepage.hit.edu.cn/lijunbao) - [Zhaoxin Zhang](https://homepage.hit.edu.cn/zhangzhaoxin)
Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications/China - [Shize Guo](https://scss.bupt.edu.cn/info/1063/5386.htm) - [Dongbin Wang](https://scss.bupt.edu.cn/info/1249/5098.htm) - [Zhongliang Yang](https://scss.bupt.edu.cn/info/1247/5070.htm)
Beijing Institute of Technology/China - [Changzhen Hu](https://cst.bit.edu.cn/szdw/jsml/bssds/ca94335a79114dbe9ae967e53ca86bec.htm) - [Liehuang Zhu](https://cs.bit.edu.cn/szdw/jsml/wlkjaqxy/zlh/index.htm) - [Meng Shen](https://cst.bit.edu.cn/szdw/jsml/bssds/86728e84066248b0b13bdf04f685817f.htm) - [Xuhui Ding](https://cst.bit.edu.cn/szdw/jsml/bssds/711aba6ea79b41618a2f2fac616652a9.htm)
Beihang University/China - [Jian Mao](https://shi.buaa.edu.cn/maojian/zh_CN/index.htm) - [Sheng Hong](http://shi.buaa.edu.cn/hongsheng/zh_CN/index.htm) - [Ying Gao](https://shi.buaa.edu.cn/gaoying/zh_CN/index.htm)
Xi'an Jiaotong University/China - [Xiaohong Guan](https://www.xjtu.edu.cn/jsnr.jsp?wbtreeid=1632&wbwbxjtuteacherid=502) - [Chao Shen](https://gr.xjtu.edu.cn/web/cshen)
Shanghai Jiao Tong University/China - [Guoxing Chen](https://donnod.github.io/) - [Haojin Zhu](https://nsec.sjtu.edu.cn/~hjzhu/)
Others - [Guang Cheng](https://cyber.seu.edu.cn/cg1/list.htm) (Southeast University/China) - [Fengwei Zhang](https://fengweiz.github.io/) (Southern University of Science and Technology/China) - [Qian Wang](http://nisplab.whu.edu.cn/people.html) (Wuhan University/China) - [Min Yang](https://cs.fudan.edu.cn/3e/d7/c25921a278231/page.htm) (Fudan University/China) - [Shuguang Cui](https://sse.cuhk.edu.cn/en/faculty/cuishuguang) (The Chinese University of Hong Kong/China)
Overseas - [Xuemin (Sherman) Shen](https://uwaterloo.ca/scholar/sshen) (University of Waterloo/Canada) - [Xiaofeng Wang](https://homes.luddy.indiana.edu/xw7/) (Indiana University Bloomington/United States) - [Tao Wang](https://www.cs.sfu.ca/~taowang/) (Simon Fraser University/Canada) - [Ivan Martinovic](https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/people/ivan.martinovic/) (University of Oxford/United Kingdom) - [Amir Houmansadr](https://people.cs.umass.edu/~amir/) (University of Massachusetts Amherst/United States) - [Giuseppe Aceto](http://wpage.unina.it/giuseppe.aceto/) (Università di Napoli Federico II/Italy) - [Antonio Pescapè](http://wpage.unina.it/pescape/) (Università di Napoli Federico II/Italy) - [Thorsten Holz](https://cispa.de/en/research/groups/holz) (CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security/Germany) - [Mohammad Saidur Rahman](https://www.rahmanmsaidur.com/) (University of Texas at El Paso/United States) - [Yue Zhang](https://yue.zyueinfosec.com/) (Drexel University/United States) - [Xinyu Xing](http://xinyuxing.org/) (Northwestern University/United States) - [Yang Liu](https://personal.ntu.edu.sg/yangliu/) (Nanyang Technological University/Singapore) - [Alessandro Finamore](https://afinamore.io/) (Huawei Technologies/France) - [Thijs van Ede](https://thijsvane.de/) (University of Twente/Netherlands)

Acknowledgement

Special thanks to everyone who contributed to this project.

Name Bio
Qiang Zhang PhD Student @SCU

Contact & Feedback

If you have any suggestions (missing papers, new papers, key researchers or typos), feel free to pull a request. Also you can mail to:

License

The source-code is licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE.