InterPlanetary File System

The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a protocol, hypermedia and file sharing peer-to-peer network for storing and sharing data in a distributed file system. IPFS uses content-addressing to uniquely identify each file in a global namespace connecting IPFS hosts.[4][5]

InterPlanetary File System
Original author(s)Juan Benet and Protocol Labs[1]
Developer(s)Protocol Labs
Initial releaseFebruary 2015 (y)[1]
Stable release
0.23.0[2] / 5 October 2023 (5 October 2023)
Repositorygithub.com/ipfs/ipfs
Written in
  • Protocol implementations: Go (reference implementation), JavaScript, C,[3] Python
  • Client libraries: Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, Scala, Haskell, Swift, Common Lisp, Rust, Ruby, PHP, C#, Erlang
Available inGo, JavaScript, Python
Type
LicenseMIT license, Apache license 2.0
Websiteipfs.tech
Part of a series on
File sharing
File hosts
Video sharing sites
BitTorrent sites
Media servers
Technologies
File sharing networks
Academic
P2P clients
Anonymous file sharing
History and societal aspects
By country or region
Comparisons

IPFS can among others replace the location based hypermedia server protocols http and https to distribute the World Wide Web.[5][6][7]

Design

IPFS allows users to host and receive content in a manner similar to BitTorrent. As opposed to a centrally located server, IPFS is built around a decentralized system[8] of user-operators who hold a portion of the overall data, creating a resilient system of file storage and sharing. Any user in the network can serve a file by its content address, and other peers in the network can find and request that content from any node who has it using a distributed hash table (DHT).

In contrast to BitTorrent, IPFS aims to create a single global network. This means that if two users publish a block of data with the same hash, the peers downloading the content from "user 1" will also exchange data with the ones downloading it from "user 2".[9] IPFS aims to replace protocols used for static webpage delivery by using gateways which are accessible with HTTP.[10] Users may choose not to install an IPFS client on their device and instead use a public gateway. A list of these gateways is maintained on the IPFS GitHub page.[11]

History

IPFS was created by Juan Benet, who later founded Protocol Labs in May 2014.[5][12]

IPFS was launched in an alpha version in February 2015, and by October of the same year was described by TechCrunch as "quickly spreading by word of mouth."[1] Network service provider Cloudflare started using IPFS in 2018 and launched its own gateway in the system in 2022.

In March 2020, the Opera browser provided access to the centralized resources of the Unstoppable Domains provider by hosting content in IPFS.

Applications
  • Filecoin is an IPFS-based cooperative storage cloud, also authored by Protocol Labs.[13]
  • Cloudflare runs a distributed web gateway to simplify, speed up, and secure access to IPFS without needing a local node.[14]
  • Microsoft's self-sovereign identity system, Microsoft ION, builds on the Bitcoin blockchain and IPFS through a Sidetree[15]-based DID network.[16]
  • The shadow libraries Anna's Archive and Library Genesis also deliver books via IPFS,[17][18][19] enabling the largest human library of books to be more resilient.
  • Brave uses Origin Protocol and IPFS to host its decentralized merchandise store[20] and, in 2021, added support into their browser.[21]
  • Opera for Android has default support for IPFS, allowing mobile users to browse ipfs:// links to access data on the IPFS network.[22]
  • Superhighway84 is an IPFS-based Usenet-like discussion system
  • Filebase is a geo-redundant IPFS Pinning Service that pins each file to the IPFS network with 3 redundant copies stored across diverse geographic locations.[23]
  • Scaleway is the first cloud service provider to develop and integrate a multi-region, multi-az redundant IPFS pinning service.[24]

Anti-censorship

Malware

Phishing attacks have also been distributed through Cloudflare's IPFS gateway since July 2018. The phishing scam HTML is stored on IPFS, and displayed via Cloudflare's gateway. The connection shows as secure via a Cloudflare SSL certificate.[28]

The IPStorm botnet, first detected in June 2019, uses IPFS so it can hide its command-and-control amongst the flow of legitimate data on the IPFS network.[29] Security researchers had worked out previously the theoretical possibility of using IPFS as a botnet command-and-control system.[30][31]

See also

References
  1. Case, Amber (2015-10-04). "Why The Internet Needs IPFS Before It's Too Late". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2022-02-05. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  2. "Release 0.23.0". 2023-10-05. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  3. "agorise / c-ipfs". git.agorise.net.
  4. Benet, Juan (2014-07-14). "IPFS - Content Addressed, Versioned, P2P File System". arXiv:1407.3561.
  5. Finley, Klint (2016-06-20). "The Inventors of the Internet Are Trying to Build a Truly Permanent Web". Wired. ISSN 1078-3148. OCLC 24479723. Archived from the original on 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  6. Youtube: Stanford Seminar - "IPFS and the Permanent Web"- Juan Benet of Protocol Labs Archived 2022-08-09 at the Wayback Machine Quote: "...The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a new hypermedia distribution protocol, to complement--and eventually replace--HTTP. It improves the security, performance, operation modes, and data friendliness of the Web. In particular, it yields a powerful new model, where websites and web applications are decoupled from origin servers, are distributed trustlessly through the network, and are encrypted, authenticated, and executed safely..."
  7. Youtube: IPFS: Interplanetary file storage! Archived 2022-08-09 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Krishnan, Armin (2020). "Blockchain Empowers Social Resistance and Terrorism Through Decentralized Autonomous Organizations". Journal of Strategic Security. 13 (1): 41–58. doi:10.5038/1944-0472.13.1.1743. ISSN 1944-0464. JSTOR 26907412.
  9. "Content addressing". docs.ipfs.tech. Archived from the original on 2020-08-29. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
  10. "IPFS Gateway". docs.ipfs.tech. Archived from the original on 2020-08-29. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
  11. "Public Gateway Checker | IPFS". GitHub. Archived from the original on 2020-08-24. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
  12. "About". Protocol Labs. Archived from the original on 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
  13. Johnson, Steven (2018-01-16). "Beyond the Bitcoin Bubble". The New York Times. ISSN 1553-8095. OCLC 1645522. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2018-09-26.
  14. Orcutt, Mike (2018-10-05). "A big tech company is working to free the internet from big tech companies". MIT Technology Review. ISSN 0040-1692. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  15. "Sidetree v1.0.1". identity.foundation.
  16. Simons, Alex (2019-05-13). "Toward scalable decentralized identifier systems". Microsoft. Archived from the original on 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  17. ""Anna's Archive" Opens the Door to Z-Library and Other Pirate Libraries * TorrentFreak". TorrentFreak. Archived from the original on 2022-11-19. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
  18. "'Shadow Libraries' Are Moving Their Pirated Books to The Dark Web After Fed Crackdowns". VICE. Archived from the original on 2022-11-30. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
  19. "Web3 tech helps banned books on piracy site Library Genesis slip through the Great Firewall's cracks, but for how long?". South China Morning Post. 2022-04-16. Archived from the original on 2022-11-29. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
  20. "Brave Launches New Swag Store Powered by Origin". Brave (Press release). 2020-03-24. Archived from the original on 2020-04-25. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  21. Porter, Jon (2021-01-19). "Brave browser takes step toward enabling a decentralized web". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2021-02-26. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  22. "Opera introduces major updates to its blockchain-browser on Android". Opera (Press release). 2020-03-03. Archived from the original on 2020-04-02. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  23. "Filebase Documentation". filebase.com. 2022-12-12. Archived from the original on 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  24. "Scaleway Product Page". labs.scaleway.com. 2023-10-28. Archived from the original on 2023-08-09. Retrieved 2023-10-28. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch (help)
  25. Balcell, Marta Poblet (2017-10-05). "Inside Catalonia's cypherpunk referendum". Eureka Street. Vol. 27, no. 20. ISSN 1833-7724. Archived from the original on 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
  26. Hill, Paul (2017-09-30). "Catalan referendum app removed from Google Play Store". Neowin. Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
  27. Dale, Brady (2017-05-10). "Turkey Can't Block This Copy of Wikipedia". Observer. ISSN 1052-2948. Archived from the original on 2017-10-18. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  28. Abrams, Lawrence (2018-10-04). "Phishing Attacks Distributed Through Cloudflare's IPFS Gateway". Bleeping Computer. Archived from the original on 2019-10-09. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  29. Palmer, Danny (2019-06-11). "This unusual Windows malware is controlled via a P2P network". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2019-09-06. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
  30. Patsakis, Constantinos; Casino, Fran (2019-06-04). "Hydras and IPFS: a decentralised playground for malware". International Journal of Information Security. 18 (6): 787–799. arXiv:1905.11880. doi:10.1007/s10207-019-00443-0. S2CID 167217444.
  31. Macabeus, Bruno; Vinicius, Marcus; Cavalcante, João Paolo; de Souza, Cidcley Teixeira (2018-05-06). Protocolos IPFS e IPNS como meio para o controle de botnet: prova de conceito. Workshop de Segurança Cibernética em Dispositivos Conectados (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2021-04-27 – via SBC Open Lib.
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