Trust Factors in P2P Networks

P2P networks have become a popular way to share large volumes of data due to its open and anonymous nature. P2P network model is designed with the targets of decentralization, well-scaling, fault-tolerance and low cost. Meanwhile however, new targets bring new challenges. P2P network expose more security threats due to its open and anonymous nature. P2P networks are vulnerable to attacks by malicious peers that have an incentive to spread viruses, in authentic data, or provide poor quality services. In this paper, we analyze the potential trust problems for different kinds of P2P networks, and then present the general trust factors that are indispensable for building trust models in any kinds of networks.