Probabilistic Analysis of Interception and Security Assessment of Routes in Peer-to-Peer Networks with Two-Step Data Transmission

This paper considers a threat scenario of unauthorized eavesdropping in a peer-to-peer network, where routes between the initiator node and the recipient node pass through two intermediate nodes. It is shown how the compromise of one or several nodes affects the share of routes that can be intercepted by an attacker and how this relates to the total number of possible routes. Formulas are obtained for calculating the number of intercepted connections, and probabilities of successful interception and unsuccessful connection are determined, reflecting the system’s vulnerability. Approaches to assessing security are investigated, taking into account an increased number of compromised nodes as well as the effect of network structure on the share of vulnerable routes. Modeling results for networks with various numbers of nodes are presented, confirming the accuracy of the proposed estimates. A software tool is proposed that automates the computation of different network configurations, which can be used in designing reliable communication protocols.