Cover traffic

Cover traffic is an added noise feature used by the NymVPN Anonymous Mode. Empty data packets are introduced into the network to increase anonymity of all users. In addition to “real” data packets sent from the client (NymVPN app), the app also regularly sends “cover traffic” or “dummy” through the network. These packets are encrypted the same way and size, so from an external perspective of the network, they are indistinguishable from real packets. This makes surveillance of data types more difficult to identify based on volume (e.g., an email from a video file). It also increases the volume of traffic flowing through the network, and thus improves the anonymity set for all users of the Nym mixnet. The bigger the crowd, the more anonymous everyone is.