BlindBox

Many network middleboxes perform deep packet inspection (DPI), a set of useful tasks which examine packet payloads. These tasks include intrusion detection (IDS), exfiltration detection, and parental filtering. However, a long-standing issue is that once packets are sent over HTTPS, middleboxes can no longer accomplish their tasks because the payloads are encrypted. Hence, one is faced with the choice of only one of two desirable properties: the functionality of middleboxes and the privacy of encryption. We propose BlindBox, the first system that simultaneously provides {\em both} of these properties. The approach of BlindBox is to perform the deep-packet inspection {\em directly on the encrypted traffic. BlindBox realizes this approach through a new protocol and new encryption schemes.