A friend-to-friend (or F2F) computer network is a type of peer-to-peer network in which users only make direct connections with people they know.

Passwords A password, sometimes called a passcode (for example in Apple devices), is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of ...

or digital signatures can be used for

authentication Authentication (from ''authentikos'', "real, genuine", from αὐθέντης ''authentes'', "author") is the act of proving an assertion, such as the identity of a computer system user. In contrast with identification, the act of indicatin ...

. Unlike other kinds of

private P2P Private peer-to-peer (P2P) systems are peer-to-peer (P2P) systems that allow only mutually trusted peers to participate. This can be achieved by using a central server such as a Direct Connect hub to authenticate clients. Alternatively, users can ...

, users in a friend-to-friend network cannot find out who else is participating beyond their own circle of friends, so F2F networks can grow in size without compromising their users' anonymity.

Retroshare Retroshare is a free and open-source peer-to-peer communication and file sharing app based on a friend-to-friend network built by GNU Privacy Guard (GPG). Optionally, peers may exchange certificates and IP addresses to their friends and vice ...

WASTE Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste pr ...

, GNUnet,

Freenet Freenet is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant, anonymous communication. It uses a decentralized distributed data store to keep and deliver information, and has a suite of free software for publishing and communicating on the Web ...

and OneSwarm are examples of software that can be used to build F2F networks, though RetroShare is the only one of these configured for friend-to-friend operation by default. Many F2F networks support indirect

anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anony ...

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

ous communication between users who do not know or trust one another. For example, a

node In general, a node is a localized swelling (a " knot") or a point of intersection (a vertex). Node may refer to: In mathematics * Vertex (graph theory), a vertex in a mathematical graph * Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, line ...

in a friend-to-friend

overlay Overlay may refer to: Computers *Overlay network, a computer network which is built on top of another network *Hardware overlay, one type of video overlay that uses memory dedicated to the application *Another term for exec, replacing one process ...

can automatically forward a file (or a request for a file) anonymously between two friends, without telling either of them the other's name or

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...

. These friends can in turn automatically forward the same file (or request) to their own friends, and so on. Dan Bricklin coined the term "friend-to-friend network" in 2000.

Potential applications of F2F

*The Bouillon project uses a friend-to-friend network to assign trust ratings to messages.

References

*B.C. Popescu, B. Crispo, and A.S. Tanenbaum
"Safe and Private Data Sharing with Turtle: Friends Team-Up and Beat the System."
In 12th International Workshop on Security Protocols, Cambridge, UK, April 2004. *T. Chothia and K. Chatzikokolakis
"A Survey of Anonymous Peer-to-Peer File-Sharing."
In Proceedings of the IFIP International Symposium on Network-Centric Ubiquitous Systems (NCUS 2005), Nagasaki, Japan, volume 3823 of

Lecture Notes in Computer Science ''Lecture Notes in Computer Science'' is a series of computer science books published by Springer Science+Business Media since 1973. Overview The series contains proceedings, post-proceedings, monographs, and Festschrifts. In addition, tutorial ...

, pages 744–755. Springer, 2005. *J. Li and F. Dabek
"F2F: Reliable Storage in Open Networks."
In 5th International Workshop on Peer-to-Peer Systems (IPTPS '06), Santa Barbara, CA, USA, February 2006. *M. Rogers and S. Bhatti
"How to Disappear Completely: A Survey of Private Peer-to-Peer Networks."
In 1st International Workshop on Sustaining Privacy in Collaborative Environments (SPACE 2007), Moncton, NB, Canada, July 2007. *Numbered references:

External links

Friend2Friend.net
An

XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language and file format for storing, transmitting, and reconstructing arbitrary data. It defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. T ...

scripting language A scripting language or script language is a programming language that is used to manipulate, customize, and automate the facilities of an existing system. Scripting languages are usually interpreted at runtime rather than compiled. A scripting ...

for writing F2F software
Discussion about F2F
involving Ian Clarke of

F2F page at altruists.org
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Friend-To-Friend Applications of cryptography Internet privacy * Peer-to-peer * Authentication 2000s neologisms

Potential applications of F2F

See also

References

External links