An Empirical Measurement and Analysis of Circuit Construction in the Live Tor Network

An Empirical Measurement and Analysis of Circuit Construction in the Live Tor Network | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 31 October 2025 V1 Latest version Share on An Empirical Measurement and Analysis of Circuit Construction in the Live Tor Network Authors : Sunkanmi Oluwadare 0009-0004-8717-523X [email protected] and Jacques Bou Abdo Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176193738.82435320/v1 208 views 142 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract The security and anonymity guarantees of the Tor network are fundamentally linked to its network-layer topology, yet few studies have been grounded in large-scale, empirical measurements of its live operation. This paper presents a dataset and a structural analysis of the live Tor network. We introduce a dataset of 88,121 circuits, ethically collected over a fourweek period from non-exit relays to capture real-world relay selection patterns. Our analysis provides two key insights into Tor's structure at the network layer. First, we find a high degree of role specialization, with very few relays serving in multiple roles (e.g., as both a Middle and Exit node). Second, we provide a quantitative measurement of structural centralization, finding that traffic is moderately concentrated on high-bandwidth relays. By publishing this dataset and its initial findings, we provide a critical resource for the research community and establish an empirical baseline for developing more accurate, data driven understanding of Tor's security and performance. Supplementary Material File (an_empirical_measurement_and_analysis_of_circuit_construction_in_the_live_tor_network.pdf) Download 457.22 KB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 31 October 2025 Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Keywords anonymity networks tor tor structure Authors Affiliations Sunkanmi Oluwadare 0009-0004-8717-523X [email protected] School of Information Technology, University of Cincinnati View all articles by this author Jacques Bou Abdo School of Information Technology, University of Cincinnati View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 208 views 142 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Sunkanmi Oluwadare, Jacques Bou Abdo. An Empirical Measurement and Analysis of Circuit Construction in the Live Tor Network. Authorea . 31 October 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176193738.82435320/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu . 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