convergence secret doc by CtB, marlowe, zooko

docs/convergence-secret.rst

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+
+
+What Is It?
+-----------
+
+The identifer of a file (also called the "capability" to a file) is derived
+from two pieces of information when the file is uploaded: the content of the
+file and the upload node's "convergence secret". By default, the convergence
+secret is randomly generated by the node when it first starts up, then stored
+in the node's base directory (<Tahoe's node dir>/private/convergence) and
+re-used after that. So the same file content uploaded from the same node will
+always have the same cap. Uploading the file from a different node with a
+different convergence secret would result in a different cap—and in a second
+copy of the file's contents stored on the grid. If you want files you upload
+to converge (also known as "deduplicate") with files uploaded by someone
+else, just make sure you're using the same convergence secret when you upload
+files as they
+
+The advantages of deduplication should be clear, but keep in mind that the
+convergence secret was created to protect confidentiality. There are two
+attacks that can be used against you by someone who knows the convergence
+secret you use.
+
+The first one is called the "Confirmation-of-a-File Attack". Someone who
+knows the convergence secret that you used when you uploaded a file, and who
+has a copy of that file themselves, can check whether you have a copy of that
+file. This is usually not a problem, but it could be if that file is, for
+example, a book or movie that is banned in your country.
+
+The second attack is more subtle. It is called the
+"Learn-the-Remaining-Information Attack". Suppose you've received a
+confidential document, such as a PDF from your bank which contains many pages
+of boilerplate text as well as containing your bank account number and
+balance. Someone who knows your convergence secret can generate a file with
+all of the boilerplate text (perhaps they would open an account with the same
+bank so they receive the same document with their account number and
+balance). Then they can try a "brute force search" to find your account
+number and your balance.
+
+The defense against these attacks is that only someone who knows the
+convergence secret that you used on each file can perform these attacks on
+that file.
+
+Both of these attacks and the defense are described in more detail in `Drew
+Perttula's Hack Tahoe-LAFS Hall Of Fame entry`_
+
+.. _`Drew Perttula's Hack Tahoe-LAFS Hall Of Fame entry`:
+   https://tahoe-lafs.org/hacktahoelafs/drew_perttula.html
+
+What If I Change My Convergence Secret?
+---------------------------------------
+
+All your old file capabilities will still work, but the new data that you
+upload will not be deduplicated with the old data. If you upload all of the
+same things to the grid, you will end up using twice the space until garbage
+collection kicks in (if it's enabled). Changing the convergence secret that a
+node uses for uploads can be though of as moving the node to a new
+"deduplication domain".
+
+How To Use It
+-------------
+
+To enable deduplication between different clients, **securely** copy the
+convergence secret file from one client to all the others.
+
+For example, if you are on host A and have an account on host B and you have
+scp installed, run:
+
+  *scp ~/.tahoe/private/convergence
+  my_other_account@B:.tahoe/private/convergence*
+
+If you have two different nodes on a single computer, say one for each disk,
+you would do:
+
+  *cp /tahoe1/private/convergence /tahoe2/private/convergence*