Good neighbors can make good fences: a peer-to-peer user security system

The basic concept of good neighbors system is straightforward: users scan friends' machines with a trustworthy "good worm" and patch vulnerabilities, leaving records to propagate the worm through a social network, and to foster social feedback. The intuition is of a community in which users can check each other's security fences and lock them if they are open. Such a system is, of course, not a panacea against all attacks, but offers the potential of a new paradigm in user-focused security. The good neighbors system will help users manage their security needs, yet will not introduce new security risks. The good neighbors system combines the functional scanning and repairing of the "good worm" with the robustness of P2P networks and the embeddedness of social networks. While social and economic underpinnings of this model are addressed, there are also legal considerations. Scanning and altering resources meets the definition of a computer crime in many jurisdictions