Need feedback on a theoretical idea: "Rolling IDs" to hide metadata (school project) #455
quatrefall
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i’m a student from Russia. A few months ago, I had exactly three days to come up with a project for the city-level stage of a infosec olympiad. At first, I just wanted to do a presentation on Meshtastic, but the judges expect actual "infosec" research. So, I started digging into the protocol's weaknesses and read that metadata (like NodeIDs) is broadcasted in the clear. Realizing this could lead to passive tracking and social graph mapping, I got inspired by TOTP and Bluetooth MAC randomization, and I tried to write an algorithm for dynamic identifier generation — I called it "Rolling ID".
long story short, I somehow passed the city stage. Then I adapted the project for the city stage of a science competition called "Bolshiye Vyzovy" (Big Challenges). I actually fell a bit short on points there, but they still invited me to their next regional round!
after that, I presented the project at the regional stage of the infosec olympiad. To my absolute surprise, presenting this concept gave me enough bonus points to actually outscore the senior high schoolers by 30-40 points. Now, it looks like I'm advancing to the National Finals.
and this is exactly why I’m kind of scared and why I am asking for help.
i need to present this to a very serious jury soon, and I want to make absolutely sure it’s not just "stupid showing off" that looks good on paper but fails in reality. I want to present a properly polished concept. Maybe someone here might even find a tiny bit of inspiration for fixing the current metadata privacy issues? (Though I realize my work might be too naive/childish for actual implementation).
the funniest (or saddest) part is: I don't even own a physical Meshtastic node yet. everything I wrote is based entirely on reading documentation, forums, and theoretical research online. Because of this, I am 100% sure there are practical errors that any of you would spot on day one.
i've made the translated technical documentation If anyone has a few minutes to roast my logic, point out obvious flawsor just tell me if the concept makes any physical sense, I would be incredibly grateful.
thanks for reading this, and sorry if it's a bit amateurish!
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