An Efficient Encryption Algorithm for P2P Networks Robust Against Man-in-the-Middle Adversary

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new RSA and knapsack-based public-key cryptosystem designed for P2P networks, offering enhanced efficiency and security against Man-in-the-Middle attacks through a novel precoding algorithm.

Contribution

It presents a novel cryptosystem combining RSA and knapsack problems with a precoding algorithm to improve security and efficiency in P2P networks against active adversaries.

Findings

The proposed cryptosystem is more efficient than existing solutions.

It provides full security against active Man-in-the-Middle adversaries.

The algorithm effectively uses knapsack-based permutation and padding.

Abstract

Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks have become popular as a new paradigm for information exchange and are being used in many applications such as file sharing, distributed computing, video conference, VoIP, radio and TV broadcasting. This popularity comes with security implications and vulnerabilities that need to be addressed. Especially duo to direct communication between two end nodes in P2P networks, these networks are potentially vulnerable to "Man-in-the-Middle" attacks. In this paper, we propose a new public-key cryptosystem for P2P networks that is robust against Man-in-the-Middle adversary. This cryptosystem is based on RSA and knapsack problems. Our precoding-based algorithm uses knapsack problem for performing permutation and padding random data to the message. We show that comparing to other proposed cryptosystems, our algorithm is more efficient and it is fully secure against an active adversary.