DHT Network with Link Access Control Using a Social Network

Services on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks tend to be spread throughout the world. However, there are several problems with peer-to-peer networks, such as illegal file sharing or information leaks. These problems are caused by the ability to freely connect many anonymous nodes. The present paper proposes a method of access control applying a social network to a P2P network. We can achieve access control (for example, node A can connect to node B, which is friend of node A, but node A cannot connect to node C, which is friend of node B). We also propose dynamic movement of a node on the DHT circle in order to resolve the problem of increasing path length. This increase is caused by applying a social network to a P2P network. We implemented the proposed method on a pure P2P network using DHT with a circular network structure. In addition, we evaluated the proposed method using a newly developed software simulator. Finally, we demonstrated that expected access control is achieved and that the average number of connections is sufficiently small.