The Nym hybrid network is based on blockchain technology, which can not only conceal the “metadata” left by data during network transmission, but also prevent single points of failure.
Written by: Zombit
User data has become another scarce resource. Tech giants such as Apple, Facebook, and Amazon have turned data computing into their own business models. The advent of the Internet era has turned data into the “new oil”, but what is absurd is that technology giants take it for granted that data belongs to them, and even the most basic privacy protection cannot be achieved. Facebook leaked the personal data of 50 million users. The Cambridge Analytica incident is a good example.
In order to solve the pain points of user data privacy protection, the privacy infrastructure Nym proposed the concept of “mixnet”.
What is a hybrid network?
Nym is a “network protocol” project, mainly to create an “open anonymous network.”
The current privacy browser Onion Network (Tor) uses multiple relay nodes to hide the user’s IP address and usage status. Although a certain degree of privacy protection can be achieved, technology giants can still use “metadata” (or called Metadata) The transmission time of the data packet controls the user’s data.
Nym’s “hybrid network” conceals the “metadata” left when data is transmitted over the network. By using the Sphinx format to make the “data size consistent” of the data packets and then mix them, this method basically eliminates the possibility of the technology giants analyzing VPN, Tor, I2P and other traffic.
More importantly, Nym’s hybrid network is based on blockchain technology, which eliminates single points of failure.
Dave Hrycysyn, chief technology officer of Nym, who was the former Libra (now renamed Diem) technical project leader, said: “In a hybrid network, all data packets are “shuffled.” The shuffled data packets will not enter according to them. The shuffler is sent out in order, but the delay is very small. You can think of the hybrid network as a dice game. The dice are the data packets, and the dice cup is the hybrid network. The data packets sway in the dice cup. After opening the dice cup, the data packets It will not be the same as when you first entered the dice cup.”
Source: Nym
Integrate with Liquid and reward nodes with Bitcoin
The Nym network is currently undergoing testing. Users can conduct transactions through the hybrid network service provided by Nym, and can also obfuscate the traffic received by the website.
In order to increase the security of the network, it will launch a node reward program with “Bitcoin” as a reward. One way is to use Blockstream’s Green wallet to obtain L-BTC (Liquid test chain BTC). If the node does not want to use the Green wallet, Nym will issue BTC rewards in other ways.
Harry Harpin, the founder and CEO of Nym, who once managed the Inria crypto fund, said that Nym will become a better alternative to Onion Browser.
“For any wallet or application that supports SOCKS5 (Network Underlying Protocol), Nym is a plug-and-play alternative to Tor. What Nym does is the same as the Onion browser. Clients launching SOCKS5 on their local computer End. The user sends all traffic from the app, and Nym converts it into Sphinx packets and sends them over Nym’s hybrid network.”
Relying on the “reputation system” reward token NYMPH to create a network “positive cycle”
There are currently about 900 nodes on the Nym network, which is one-fifth of the Onion web browser. In order to enable Nym to expand further and to confirm that the nodes provide reliable services, a “reputation system” has been launched. The system allows Nym and node operators to track which hybrid nodes are operating normally, and can also mix data packets across multiple chains.
The reputation system uses NYMPH tokens as rewards. Once a node has a certain reputation score, it can obtain reward tokens in the hybrid network. The node obtains reputation (tokens) through reliable services. Providing safe and stable network services will allow the node to Benefit from it, and the number of nodes is expected to become more and more with the help of the reward system, thus forming a “positive cycle.”
Interchain Foundation Sam Hart commented: “Nym brings together the most advanced anonymous research and distributed system engineering technologies to create open technologies that empower the public society. The Interchain Foundation expects that many Cosmos projects will integrate Nym’s network-level anonymity functions. At the same time, Nym itself also marks a new milestone in the field of private peer-to-peer communications and creates an opportunity for hybrid networks to eventually enter the mainstream.”
