The Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is an anonymous network layer (implemented as a
mix network) that allows for
censorship-resistant,
peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of Node ...
communication. Anonymous connections are achieved by
encrypting the user's traffic (by using
end-to-end encryption
End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is a method of implementing a secure communication system where only communicating users can participate. No one else, including the system provider, telecom providers, Internet providers or malicious actors, can ...
), and sending it through a volunteer-run network of roughly 55,000 computers distributed around the world. Given the high number of possible paths the traffic can transit, a third party watching a full connection is unlikely. The software that implements this layer is called an "I2P router", and a computer running I2P is called an "I2P node". I2P is
free and
open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
, and is published under multiple
licenses
A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...
.
Technical design
I2P started in 2003 as a fork of
Freenet
Hyphanet (until mid-2023: Freenet) is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant, Anonymity application, anonymous communication. It uses a decentralized distributed data store to keep and deliver information, and has a suite of free soft ...
.
The network is strictly message-based, like
IP, but a
library
A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...
is available to allow reliable
streaming
Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
communication on top of it (similar to
Non-blocking IO-based
TCP, although from version 0.6, a new ''Secure Semi-reliable''
UDP transport is used). All communication is
end-to-end encrypted (in total, four layers of encryption are used when sending a message) through
garlic routing, and even the
end points ("destinations") are
cryptographic
Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. More gen ...
identifiers (essentially a pair of
public key
Public-key cryptography, or asymmetric cryptography, is the field of cryptographic systems that use pairs of related keys. Each key pair consists of a public key and a corresponding private key. Key pairs are generated with cryptographic alg ...
s), so that neither senders nor recipients of messages need to reveal their
IP address
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface i ...
to the other side or to third-party observers.
Although many developers had been a part of the Invisible IRC Project (IIP) and
Freenet
Hyphanet (until mid-2023: Freenet) is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant, Anonymity application, anonymous communication. It uses a decentralized distributed data store to keep and deliver information, and has a suite of free soft ...
communities, significant differences exist between their designs and concepts. IIP was an anonymous centralized
IRC
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called '' channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat ...
server. Freenet is a
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
-resistant
distributed data store. I2P is an
anonymous peer-to-peer distributed communication layer designed to run ''any'' traditional internet service (e.g.
Usenet
Usenet (), a portmanteau of User's Network, is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose UUCP, Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Elli ...
,
email
Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...
,
IRC
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called '' channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat ...
,
file sharing
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include ...
,
Web hosting
A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that hosts websites for clients, i.e. it offers the facilities required for them to create and maintain a site and makes it accessible on the World Wide Web. Companies providing web ho ...
and
HTTP
HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, wher ...
, or
Telnet
Telnet (sometimes stylized TELNET) is a client-server application protocol that provides access to virtual terminals of remote systems on local area networks or the Internet. It is a protocol for bidirectional 8-bit communications. Its main ...
), as well as more traditional distributed applications (e.g. a distributed data store, a
web proxy network using
Squid
A squid (: squid) is a mollusc with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight cephalopod limb, arms, and two tentacles in the orders Myopsida, Oegopsida, and Bathyteuthida (though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also ...
, or
DNS).
Many developers of I2P are known only under
pseudonyms
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...
. While the previous main developer, ''
jrandom'', is currently on hiatus, others, such as ''zzz'', ''killyourtv'', and ''Complication'' have continued to lead development efforts, and are assisted by numerous contributors.
I2P uses 2048bit
ElGamal/
AES256/
SHA256
SHA-2 (Secure Hash Algorithm 2) is a set of cryptographic hash functions designed by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and first published in 2001. They are built using the Merkle–Damgård construction, from a one-way compression ...
+Session Tags encryption and
Ed25519 EdDSA/
ECDSA signatures.
Releases
I2P has had a stable release every six to eight weeks. Updates are distributed via I2P torrents and are signed by the release manager (generally ''str4d'' or ''zzz'').
Funding
The website states that "funding for I2P comes entirely from donations". Admins and managers of the project said that "the core project itself doesn't take donations". These should instead go to secondary applications or be spent on hiring others, to work on I2P. Support for the
onboarding
Onboarding or organizational socialization is the American term for the mechanism through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and behaviors to become effective organizational members and insiders. In other than American ...
for I2P came from the ''
Open Technology Fund''. In contrast to ''
The Tor Project
The Tor Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) research-education nonprofit organization based in Winchester, Massachusetts. It is founded by computer scientists Roger Dingledine, Nick Mathewson, and five others. The Tor Project is primarily responsibl ...
'', I2P has "not the financial or legal infrastructure to support a network of
exit nodes". The reseed servers, a sort of bootstrap nodes, which connect the user with the initial set of peers to join the I2P-network, should be run by volunteers.
Software

Since I2P is an anonymizing
network layer
In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, the network layer is layer 3. The network layer is responsible for packet forwarding including routing through intermediate Router (computing), routers.
Functions
The network layer provides t ...
, it is designed so other software can use it for anonymous communication. As such, there are a variety of tools currently available for I2P or in development.
The I2P
router is controlled through the router console, which is a web frontend accessed through a web browser.
General networking
* ''I2PTunnel'' is an application embedded into I2P that allows arbitrary TCP/IP applications to communicate over I2P by setting up "
tunnels
A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...
" which can be accessed by connecting to pre-determined ports on
localhost
In computer networking, localhost is a hostname that refers to the current computer used to access it. The name ''localhost'' is reserved for loopback purposes.
It is used to access the network services that are running on the host via t ...
.
* ''SAM'' (''Simple Anonymous Messaging'') is a
protocol which allows a client application written in any
programming language
A programming language is a system of notation for writing computer programs.
Programming languages are described in terms of their Syntax (programming languages), syntax (form) and semantics (computer science), semantics (meaning), usually def ...
to communicate over I2P, by using a socket-based interface to the I2P router.
* ''BOB'' (''Basic Open Bridge'') is a less complex app to router protocol similar to "SAM"
* ''Orchid'' Outproxy
Tor
Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to:
Places
* Toronto, Canada
** Toronto Raptors
* Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain
* Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city
* Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano
* Tor Bay, Devon, England
* Tor ...
plugin
* As of version 2.6.0, released in July 2024, I2P no longer allows I2P access over Tor connections.
Chat
* Any
IRC client
IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for Many-to-many, group communication in discussion forums, called ''#Channels, channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via instant mess ...
made for the Internet Relay Chat can work, once connected to the I2P
IRC server (on localhost). I2P have the option to create tunnels that are specific for this usage, where certain commands that could de-anonymize the user are filtered out.
* Some
XMPP
Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (abbreviation XMPP, originally named Jabber) is an Open standard, open communication protocol designed for instant messaging (IM), presence information, and contact list maintenance. Based on XML (Ext ...
clients like
Gajim,
Pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified form of contact language that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn f ...
or a modified
Conversations client can work with I2P XMPP servers using
Prosody that are using the mod_darknet module
File sharing
* Several programs provide
BitTorrent
BitTorrent is a Protocol (computing), communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet in a Decentralised system, decentralized manner. The protocol is d ...
functionality for use within the I2P network. Users cannot connect to non-I2P torrents or peers from within I2P, nor can they connect to I2P torrents or peers from outside I2P. ''I2PSnark'', included in the I2P install package, is a port of the BitTorrent client named Snark. ''
Vuze
Vuze (previously Azureus) is a BitTorrent client used to transfer files via the BitTorrent protocol. Vuze is written in Java, and uses the Azureus Engine. In addition to downloading data linked to .torrent files, Azureus allows users to view, p ...
'', formerly known as Azureus, is a
BitTorrent client
The following is a general comparison of Glossary of BitTorrent terms#Client, BitTorrent clients, which are computer programs designed for peer-to-peer file sharing using the BitTorrent, BitTorrent protocol.
The BitTorrent protocol coordinates se ...
that includes a plugin for I2P, allowing anonymous swarming through this network. This plugin is still in an early stage of development, however it is already fairly stable. ''I2P-BT'' is a BitTorrent client for I2P that allows anonymous swarming for
file sharing
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include ...
. This client is a modified version of the original BitTorrent 3.4.2 program which runs on
MS Windows and most dialects of
Unix
Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...
in a GUI and command-line environment. It was developed by the individual known as 'duck' on I2P in cooperation with 'smeghead'. It is no longer being actively developed; however, there is a small effort to upgrade the I2P-BT client up to par with the BitTorrent 4.0 release. ''I2PRufus'' is an I2P port of the Rufus BitTorrent client.
Robert (P2P Software) is the most actively maintained I2PRufus fork. XD is a standalone BitTorrent client written in Go. BiglyBT is a bittorrent client based on Vuze which also allows the use of i2p for downloading/seeding. Additionally, there exists a torrent index named ''Postman'', ran by the individual with the same name, its rules says that it does not allow illegal content, but
warez
Warez refers to pirated software and other copyrighted digital media—such as video games, movies, music, and e-books—illegally distributed online, often after bypassing digital rights management (DRM). The term, derived from “software wa ...
and
piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
is accepted.
* Two
Kad network
The Kad network is a peer-to-peer (P2P) network which implements the Kademlia P2P overlay protocol. The majority of users on the Kad Network are also connected to servers on the eDonkey network, and Kad Network clients typically query known node ...
clients exist for the I2P network, ''iMule'' and ''Nachtblitz''. iMule (''invisible Mule'') is a port of
eMule
eMule is a Free software, free peer-to-peer file sharing application for Microsoft Windows. Started in May 2002 as an alternative to eDonkey2000, eMule connects to both the eDonkey network and the Kad network. The distinguishing features of eM ...
for I2P network. iMule has not been developed since 2013. iMule is made for anonymous file sharing. In contrast to other
eDonkey clients, iMule only uses the
Kademlia
Kademlia is a distributed hash table for decentralized peer-to-peer computer networks designed by Petar Maymounkov and David Mazières in 2002. It specifies the structure of the network and the exchange of information through node (networking), no ...
for proceeding to connect through I2P network, so no servers are needed. ''Nachtblitz'' is a custom client built on the .NET Framework. The latest version is 1.4.27, released on March 23, 2016. Nachtblitz includes a time lock to disable the software one year after its release date.
*
I2Phex is a port of the popular
Gnutella
Gnutella is a peer-to-peer network protocol. Founded in 2000, it was the first decentralized peer-to-peer network of its kind, leading to other, later networks adopting the model.
In June 2005, Gnutella's population was 1.81 million computer ...
client
Phex to I2P. It is stable and fairly functional.
*
Tahoe-LAFS has been ported to I2P. This allows for files to be anonymously stored in Tahoe-LAFS grids.
* MuWire is a file-sharing program inspired by the LimeWire Gnutella client that works atop the I2P network.
Bridging to clearnet
Currently,
Vuze
Vuze (previously Azureus) is a BitTorrent client used to transfer files via the BitTorrent protocol. Vuze is written in Java, and uses the Azureus Engine. In addition to downloading data linked to .torrent files, Azureus allows users to view, p ...
and BiglyBT are the torrent clients that make
clearnet (connections not through I2P) torrents available on I2P and vice versa. Depending on the client settings, torrents from the internet can be made available on I2P (via announcements to I2P's DHT network) and torrents from I2P can be made available to the internet. For this reason, torrents previously published only on I2P can be made available to the entire Internet, and users of I2P can often download popular content from the Internet while maintaining the anonymity of I2P. As of August 2022, the default outproxy is exit.stormycloud.i2p which is run by StormyCloud Inc.
Email

* ''I2P-Bote'' is a
free, fully
decentralized
Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those related to planning and decision-making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group and gi ...
and distributed anonymous
email system with a strong focus on security. It supports multiple identities and does not expose email
metadata
Metadata (or metainformation) is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data itself, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including:
* Descriptive ...
. , it is still considered
beta software
The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...
. I2P-Bote is accessible via the I2P
web console interface or using standard email protocols (i.e.
IMAP
In computing, the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is an Internet standard protocol used by email clients to retrieve email messages from a mail server over a TCP/IP connection. IMAP is defined by .
IMAP was designed with the goal of per ...
/
SMTP
The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an Internet standard communication protocol for electronic mail transmission. Mail servers and other message transfer agents use SMTP to send and receive mail messages. User-level email clients typi ...
). All bote-mails are transparently end-to-end encrypted and signed by the sender's private key, thus removing the need for
PGP or other email encryption software. I2P-Bote offers additional anonymity by allowing for the use of mail relays with variable length delays. Since it is decentralized, there is no centralized email server that could correlate different email identities as communicating with each other (i.e. ''profiling''). Even the
nodes relaying the mails do not know the sender, and apart from sender and receiver, only the end of the high-
latency mail route and the storing nodes will know to whom (which I2P-Bote address – the user's IP address is still hidden by I2P) the mail is destined. The original sender could have gone offline long before the email becomes available to the recipient. No account registration is necessary, all you have to do in order to use it is create a new identity. I2P-Bote can be installed as an I2P plugin .
* I2P also has a free pseudonymous e-mail service run by an individual called ''Postman''. Susimail is a
web-based
A web application (or web app) is application software that is created with web technologies and runs via a web browser. Web applications emerged during the late 1990s and allowed for the server to dynamically build a response to the request, ...
email client intended primarily for use with Postman's mail servers, and is designed with security and anonymity in mind. Susimail was created to address privacy concerns in using these servers directly using traditional email clients, such as leaking the user's hostname while communicating with the SMTP server. It is currently included in the default I2P distribution, and can be accessed through the I2P router console web interface. Mail.i2p can contact both I2P email users and public internet email users.
*
Bitmessage.ch can be used over I2P
Instant messaging
* ''I2P-Messenger'' is a simple
Qt-based, serverless,
end-to-end-encrypted instant messenger
Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of synchronous computer-mediated communication involving the immediate ( real-time) transmission of messages between two or more parties over the Internet or another computer network. Originally involv ...
for I2P. No servers can log the user's conversations. No ISP can log with whom the user chats, when, or for how long. As it is serverless, it can make use of I2P's end-to-end encryption, preventing any node between two parties from having access to the plain text. I2P-Messenger can be used for fully anonymous instant communication with persons the user doesn't even know, or, alternatively, to communicate securely and untraceably with friends, family members, or colleagues. In addition to messaging,
file transfer
File transfer is the transmission of a computer file through a communication channel from one computer system to another. Typically, file transfer is mediated by a communications protocol. In the history of computing, numerous file transfer protoc ...
is also supported.
* ''I2P-Talk'' is another simple instant messenger incompatible with I2P-Messenger, but having the same security properties
Publishing
* ''
Syndie'' is a content distribution application, suitable for
blogs
A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
,
newsgroups
A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are not only discussion groups or conversations, but also a repository to publish articles, start ...
,
forums and small media attachments. Syndie is designed for
network resilience. It supports connections to I2P, the Tor network (Syndie does not support Socks proxies, workaround needed for Tor access), Freenet and the regular internet. Server connections are intermittent, and support
higher-latency communications. Connections can be made to any number of known servers. Content is spread efficiently using a
Gossip protocol
A gossip protocol or epidemic protocol is a procedure or process of computer peer-to-peer communication that is based on the way epidemics spread. Some distributed systems use peer-to-peer gossip to ensure that data is disseminated to all members ...
.
* ''Aktie'' is an anonymous file sharing and distributed
web of trust
In cryptography, a web of trust is a concept used in PGP, GnuPG, and other OpenPGP-compatible systems to establish the authenticity of the binding between a public key and its owner. Its decentralized trust model is an alternative to the ...
forums system. Aktie can connect to I2P with its internal router or use an external router. To fight spam, "hash payments" (proof of CPU work) is computed for every published item.
Routers
* i2pd is a light-weight I2P router written in
C++, stripping the excessive applications such as e-mail, torrents, and others that can be regarded as bloat. The I2PSnark standalone
BitTorrent
BitTorrent is a Protocol (computing), communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet in a Decentralised system, decentralized manner. The protocol is d ...
client by I2P+ Team can still be used with it.
The Privacy Solutions project
The Privacy Solutions project, a new organization that develops and maintains I2P software, launched several new development efforts designed to enhance the privacy, security, and anonymity for users, based on I2P protocols and technology.
These efforts include:
* The Abscond browser bundle.
* i2pd, an alternate implementation of I2P, written in C++ (rather than Java).
* The "BigBrother" I2P
network monitoring
Network monitoring is the use of a system that constantly monitors a computer network for slow or failing components and that notifies the network administrator (via email, SMS or other alarms) in case of outages or other trouble. Network monitor ...
project.
The code repository and download sections for the i2pd and Abscond project is available for the public to review and download.
Effective January, 2015 i2pd is operating under PurpleI2P.
Android

* Release builds of an I2P Router application for Android can be found on the
Google Play
Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...
store under The Privacy Solutions Project's Google Play account or on an
F-Droid
F-Droid is a free and open source app store and software repository for Android (operating system), Android, serving a similar function to the Google Play store. The main repository, hosted by the project, contains only free software, free and o ...
repository hosted by the developers.
* ''Nightweb'' is an Android application that utilizes I2P and Bittorrent to share blog posts, photos, and other similar content. It can also be run as a desktop application. It is no longer in development.
Cryptocurrency
Some cryptocurrencies that support I2P are listed below.
*
Bitcoin
Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; Currency symbol, sign: ₿) is the first Decentralized application, decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 when an unknown entity published a white paper under ...
*
Monero
*
Verge
Terminology

; Eepsite: Eepsites are
website
A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...
s that are hosted anonymously within the I2P network. Eepsite names end in ''.i2p'', such as ''ugha.i2p'' or ''forum.i2p''. EepProxy can locate these sites through the
cryptographic identifier keys stored in the
hosts.txt file found within the I2P program directory. Typically, I2P is required to access these eepsites.
; .i2p: 'I2p' is a
pseudo-top-level domain
A pseudo-top-level domain is a label or name for a computer network that is not participating in the world-wide official Domain Name System and may not even participate in the Internet, but may use a similar domain name hierarchy. Historically the ...
which is only valid within the I2P
overlay network
An overlay network is a logical computer network that is protocol layering, layered on top of a physical network. The concept of overlay networking is distinct from the traditional model of OSI model, OSI layered networks, and almost always assum ...
scope.
.i2p
names are resolved by browsers by submitting requests to EepProxy which will resolve names to an I2P peer key and will handle data transfers over the I2P network while remaining transparent to the browser.
; EepProxy: The EepProxy program handles all communication between the browser and any eepsite. It functions as a
proxy server that can be used by any
web browser
A web browser, often shortened to browser, is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's scr ...
.
; Peers, I2P nodes: Other machines using I2P that are connected to user's machine within the network. Each machine within the network shares the routing and forwarding of encrypted
packets.
; Tunnels: Every ten minutes, a connection is established between the user's machine and another peer. Data to and from the user, along with the data for other peers (routed through the user's machine), pass through these tunnels and are forwarded to their final destination (may include more
jumps).
; netDb: The
distributed hash table
A distributed hash table (DHT) is a Distributed computing, distributed system that provides a lookup service similar to a hash table. Key–value pairs are stored in a DHT, and any participating node (networking), node can efficiently retrieve the ...
(DHT)
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...
based on the
Kademlia
Kademlia is a distributed hash table for decentralized peer-to-peer computer networks designed by Petar Maymounkov and David Mazières in 2002. It specifies the structure of the network and the exchange of information through node (networking), no ...
algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...
that holds information on I2P nodes and I2P eepsites. This database is split up among routers known as "floodfill routers". When a user wants to know how to contact an eepsite, or where more peers are, they query the
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...
.
Vulnerabilities
Denial of service attacks
In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyberattack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host co ...
are possible against websites hosted on the network, though a site operator may secure their site against certain versions of this type of attack to some extent.
A
zero-day vulnerability was discovered for I2P in 2014, and was exploited to
de-anonymize at least 30,000 users. This included users of the operating system
Tails. This vulnerability was later patched.
A 2017 study examining how
forensic investigators might exploit vulnerabilities in I2P software to gather useful evidence indicated that a seized machine which had been running I2P router software may hold unencrypted local data that could be useful to
law enforcement
Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...
. Records of which websites a user of a later-seized machine was interested in may also be inferred. The study identified a "trusted" I2P
domain registrar ("NO.i2p") which appeared to have been abandoned by its administrator, and which the study identified as a potential target for law enforcement takeover. It alternatively suggested waiting for NO.i2p's server to fail, only to
social engineer the I2P community into moving to a phony replacement. Another suggestion the study proposed was to register a mirror version of a target website under an identical domain.
I2PCon

From an I2P convention was held in
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
.
The conference was hosted by a local
hackerspace
A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" (501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, sci ...
, Hacklab. The conference featured presentations from I2P developers and security researchers.
See also
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Crypto-anarchism
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Deep web
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Darknet
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Garlic routing
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Key-based routing
Key-based routing (KBR) is a lookup method used in conjunction with distributed hash tables (DHTs) and certain other overlay networks. While DHTs provide a method to find a host responsible for a certain piece of data, KBR provides a method to fi ...
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Public-key cryptography
Public-key cryptography, or asymmetric cryptography, is the field of cryptographic systems that use pairs of related keys. Each key pair consists of a public key and a corresponding private key. Key pairs are generated with cryptographic alg ...
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Rendezvous protocol
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Secure communication
Secure communication is when two entities are communicating and do not want a third party to listen in. For this to be the case, the entities need to communicate in a way that is unsusceptible to eavesdropping or interception. Secure communication ...
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Threat model
Threat modeling is a process by which potential threats, such as structural vulnerabilities or the absence of appropriate safeguards, can be identified and enumerated, and countermeasures prioritized. The purpose of threat modeling is to provide d ...
Software
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Freenet
Hyphanet (until mid-2023: Freenet) is a peer-to-peer platform for censorship-resistant, Anonymity application, anonymous communication. It uses a decentralized distributed data store to keep and deliver information, and has a suite of free soft ...
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Mixnet
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Retroshare
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Tor
Tor, TOR or ToR may refer to:
Places
* Toronto, Canada
** Toronto Raptors
* Tor, Pallars, a village in Spain
* Tor, former name of Sloviansk, Ukraine, a city
* Mount Tor, Tasmania, Australia, an extinct volcano
* Tor Bay, Devon, England
* Tor ...
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Tribler
Tribler is an open source decentralized BitTorrent client which allows anonymous peer-to-peer by default. Tribler is based on the BitTorrent protocol and uses an overlay network for content searching.
Due to this overlay network, Tribler do ...
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ZeroNet
References
External links
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{{authority control
Anonymous file sharing networks
Application layer protocols
Computer networking
Cross-platform free software
Cross-platform software
Cryptographic software
Dark web
Distributed data storage
Distributed data structures
Distributed data storage systems
Distributed file systems
File sharing
Free and open-source Android software
Free communication software
Free file transfer software
Free file sharing software
Free multilingual software
Free network-related software
Free routing software
Free software programmed in Java (programming language)
Garlic routing
Hash-based data structures
Internet privacy software
Key-based routing
Overlay networks
Peer-to-peer computing
Privacy software
Software using the MIT license
2003 software