How is Herbivore different from other anonymous communication schemes, like Freenet and Gnutella?
Currently, all other anonymous communication systems that have been implemented on a large scale are based on source-rewriting. Messages are routed through several intermediary nodes who forward the message, masking the identity of the original sender. In practice this method provides a reasonable level of anonymity. However, diligent observers that monitor traffic within and around the anonymizing network can use statistical traffic analysis to compromise identities. Herbivore is resilient to this kind of attack: Eavesdroppers with unlimited wiretapping abilities cannot determine the source or destination of a message sent in Herbivore.
