TCA: Topology change attack in Peer-to-peer networks

Peer-to-peer systems are overlay applications in which every computer or node has a client and server role. Some of these systems use servers to locate resources over the network but not to transfer data. Efficient operator services (ADSL) and the drop in hardware cost have felt to extensive Internet spread to public consumers. Nowadays, file sharing is the most Popular and used P2P application over Internet. Because of this, P2P systems are receiving considerable research attention. It is crucial to identify and characterise both Vulnerabilities and attacks related to this application, in order to prevent their negative impacts. In this paper, we present a new attack: The Topology Change (TCA) attack over the eDonkey network. Further, we investigate and study scenarios, and techniques used to accomplish TC Attack. Efficient deployment of such an attack may have a dangerous impact on the overlay network, especially regarding the underlying network infrastructure.