Title: Can MPTCP Secure Internet Communications from Man-in-the-Middle Attacks?,
Abstract: -Multipath communications at the Internet scale have been a myth for a long
time, with no actual protocol being deployed so that multiple paths could be
taken by a same connection on the way towards an Internet destination.
Recently, the Multipath Transport Control Protocol (MPTCP) extension was
standardized and is undergoing a quick adoption in many use-cases, from mobile
to fixed access networks, from data-centers to core networks. Among its major
benefits -- i.e., reliability thanks to backup path rerouting; throughput
increase thanks to link aggregation; and confidentiality thanks to harder
capacity to intercept a full connection -- the latter has attracted lower
attention. How interesting would it be using MPTCP to exploit multiple
Internet-scale paths hence decreasing the probability of man-in-the-middle
(MITM) attacks is a question to which we try to answer. By analyzing the
Autonomous System (AS) level graph, we identify which countries and regions
show a higher level of robustness against MITM AS-level attacks, for example
due to core cable tapping or route hijacking practices.