The CAIDA Anonymized Internet Traces 2008 Dataset

CAIDA's passive traces dataset contains traces collected from high-speed monitors on a commercial backbone link. The data collection started in April 2008 and ended in January 2019. These data are useful for research on the characteristics of Internet traffic, including application breakdown, security events, geographic and topological distribution, flow volume and duration. For an overview of all traces see the trace statistics page)

| Data Sources: Passive Active Other External |

The CAIDA Anonymized Internet Traces 2008 Dataset

This dataset contains anonymized passive traffic traces from CAIDA's equinix-chicago and equinix-sanjose monitors on OC192 Internet backbone links. This data is useful for research on the characteristics of Internet traffic, including application breakdown, security events, topological distribution, and flow volume and duration.

Traffic traces in this dataset are anonymized using CryptoPan prefix-preserving anonymization. All traces in this dataset are anonymized with the same key. In addition, the payload has been removed from all packets.

The traces can be read with any software that reads the pcap (tcpdump) format, including the CoralReef Software Suite, tcpdump, Wireshark, and many others.

The first traffic trace available is a 1 hour traffic trace collected during the DITL 2008 measurement event. This trace contains anonymized packet headers in pcap format on a single direction of the bidirectional OC192 link at equinix-chicago from approximately 2008-03-19 19:00 to 20:00 UTC. The hardware monitoring the other direction of the link was not functioning properly at the time of the traffic capture, so only data for a single direction was captured.

Additionally, a 6 hour traffic trace was also collected during DITL 2008 on the same single direction of the bidirectional OC192 link from 2008-03-19 00:00 to 06:00 UTC. Due to the volume of this trace (almost 400 GiB compressed) we have not (yet) made this trace part of this dataset.

For the equinix-chicago monitor, the first monthly bidirectional traffic trace was taken on April 30 2008, and added to the Anonymized 2008 Internet Trace dataset in June 2008. This 1 hour trace resulted in 83 GB of compressed pcap files. The first monthly bidirectional traffic trace from the equinix-sanjose monitor was taken on July 17 2008.

We are aware that some data in this dataset contains more then trivial amounts of packet loss; this has especially been an issue for equinix-chicago direction B. Due to the way the monitoring equipment is set up the synchronization between directions we don't know how well-aligned both directions of a single link are. We plan to provide more metadata on synchronization between directions and packet loss in the traces in the near future.

CAIDA makes near-realtime traffic reports available from its passive monitors.

Acceptable Use Agreement

Access to these data is subject to the terms of the following CAIDA Acceptable Use Agreement (printable version in PDF format)
CAIDA ACCEPTABLE USE AGREEMENT (ver 071814) The following terms comprise the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and Data License Agreement (collectively, the "AGREEMENT", or, "Acceptable Use Agreement (AUA)" for all datasets made available to You by the Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA), a research unit at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and governed by The Regents of the University of California. Certain datasets may have additional Supplemental provisions. References to this AGREEMENT shall include any and all relevant Supplemental provisions. CAIDA has the authority and reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to refuse requests for dataset(s) or discontinue further access and use to anyone. If You feel Your request is inappropriately denied please contact CAIDA by sending a message to data-info@caida.org. In consideration for requesting and receiving access to CAIDA dataset(s), You acknowledge that You understand and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this AGREEMENT. Any violation of this AGREEMENT may result in the immediate suspension or termination of this AGREEMENT and/or other action entitled by law such as injunctive or equitable relief. You are individually liable and responsible for compliance with this AGREEMENT. This AGREEMENT is legally binding under the laws of the State of California, United States. You may terminate this Agreement by contacting CAIDA in writing and receiving acknowledgement of such request. 1. LICENSE CAIDA's authorization to access the data grants You a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-assignable, and terminable license to copy, modify, and use the data in accordance with this AGREEMENT solely for the purpose of non-profit research, non-profit education, commercial internal testing and evaluation of the data, or for government purposes by or on behalf of the U.S. Government. No license is granted for any other purpose and there are no implied licenses in this Agreement. This Agreement shall become effective as of the date of approval by CAIDA and shall remain in force for a period of one year, unless terminated earlier or amended in writing. CAIDA shall have the right to use any of Your feedback received during the license period solely for its non-profit educational and/or research purposes. 2. GENERAL CONDITIONS (i) You will not impersonate any individual or entity, misrepresent any affiliation with another person, entity or association, use false information, or otherwise conceal Your identity from CAIDA at any time for any purpose. (ii) You consent that CAIDA can make public or otherwise disclose Your name as the registered requestor, the name of Your Affiliated Institution, the name of the dataset(s) that CAIDA has made available to You under this AUA, and the brief description of the type of research being undertaken that You provided to CAIDA. (iii) You will abide by any and all modifications. If a modification occurs, it will be explicitly communicated to You via Your registered email address and shall become effective fifteen (15) days after the transmission of such notification. Your continued access to or use of the data after such time shall indicate Your assent to any and all modification(s). If You do not agree to comply with the modification(s), You agree that You will: (a) inform CAIDA immediately, at at which point Your access to the data will be terminated and no longer authorized; and, (b) no longer access or use this data. 3. USE RESTRICTIONS If You have any concerns or questions about these restrictions, You are encouraged to contact CAIDA management via email to data-info@caida.org. To obtain an exemption from any of these restrictions, You will need a written authorization from CAIDA management. (i) While using non-anonymized data set(s), You will respect the privacy of persons that may be identified in the data. For any publication or other disclosure, You will anonymize or de-identify personally-identifiable information, IP addresses, and other data identified in Supplemental provisions (if any) by using commonly accepted techniques such as one of the methods recommended by CAIDA (https://www.caida.org/projects/predict/anonymization/). (ii) While using anonymized data set(s), You will not attempt to reverse engineer, decrypt, de-anonymize, derive or otherwise re-identify anonymized information. (iii) You will not distribute, disclose, transfer or otherwise make available the dataset(s) to any person other than those employed by your institute who are assisting or collaborating with You using the dataset(s). Other entities with whom You are collaborating in research using the dataset(s) must request access to the dataset(s) separately and directly from CAIDA. (iv) All conditions, restrictions and obligations attached to this data shall accompany any and all subsequent uses and disclosures of this dataset by You. Therefore, You are personally and fully responsible for communicating this AUA and ensuring its compliance as to any and all users described above to whom You make the data available. 4. USE OBLIGATIONS (i) If You create a publication (including web pages, papers published by a third party, and publicly available presentations) using data from this dataset, You must provide CAIDA with a copy of (or a link to) the publication and You must cite the data as follows: The CAIDA UCSD [DataSet Name] - [dates used], https://www.caida.org/data/[dataset-URL] (ii) At the end of the research, or semi-annually (whichever is sooner), You will report a summary of the research and any findings/conclusions to CAIDA. This information is used in reports to our funding agencies. (iii) You agree to expunge any and all copies of the received Dataset(s) upon completion or termination of stated research and/or termination of data access or use. Completion of stated research shall allow for a reasonable period of time that You may need to retain the dataset(s) in order to satisfy scientific reproducibility obligations. 5. ACCOUNTABILITY AND ENFORCEMENT (i) You agrees to safeguard any and all sensitive data as required, or may be required, by law by using at least the same degree of care that You uses for its own data of a like nature but no less than a reasonable degree of care, to protect the confidentiality of data and/or the privacy of any identifiable person and to prevent its unauthorized disclosure and use. Data is confidential if it is marked as such, if by its nature or content is reasonably distinguishable as confidential, or if You have reasonable cause to believe that its disclosure to a third party would cause harm or damage. Data is not confidential, and therefore not sensitive if: (a) You already knew the data before it was disclosed to You by CAIDA; (b) You gain subsequent knowledge of the data by either lawfully obtaining it from another source under no obligation of confidentiality, or You develop it independently; (c) the data is or becomes generally available to the public through no wrongful act of You or any other party; (e) it is required to be disclosed under applicable law, regulation or court order provided You notify CAIDA prior to making such a disclosure so that CAIDA may take appropriate action. (ii) You will notify CAIDA immediately of all relevant details if: (a) confidentiality or privacy is compromised; or (b) You receive any legal, investigatory, or other government demand to reverse engineer, decrypt, de-anonymize or otherwise disclose anonymized or confidential data. 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If You desire to use or otherwise incorporate any copyrightable part of this data for commercial purposes, You should contact the UC San Diego Technology Transfer Office, (858) 534-5815, fax: (858) 534-7345.

When referencing this data (as required by the AUA), please use:
The CAIDA UCSD Anonymized Internet Traces 2008 - <insert dates used here>
https://www.caida.org/data/passive/passive_2008_dataset.xml
Also, please, report your publication to CAIDA.

Request Data Access

Request Access to the CAIDA Anonymized Internet Traces 2008 Dataset and other Anonymized Internet Traces Datasets

Anonymized Internet Traces Datasets

Restricted Datasets (available through CAIDA)

Anonymized Internet Traces Dataset (April 2008 - January 2019)

Anonymized Internet Traces on IPv6 Day and IPv6 Launch Day Dataset

Anonymized Industry Evaluation Internet Traces Dataset

Publicly Available Datasets

Summary statistical information for all anonymized internet traces

Anonymized OC48 Peering Point Traces Dataset

The Data Collection Monitors

equinix-chicago monitor

equinix-sanjose monitor

equinix-nyc monitor