"Exploring the Hyper Ecosystem: Full Peering and Encryption Unleashed"

 

Hyper ecosystem. Full peering and encryption

Hornbeam

8 min

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Currently, people's need for secure communications has sharply increased. And with it comes the popularity of services for protecting communications and encryption. These are VPNs, mesh networks and peer-to-peer applications for direct exchange of encrypted messages, files, etc. One of the most advanced sets of this kind is the Hyper ecosystem. There are others (more on them below).

**Заголовок:**

"Exploring the Hyper Ecosystem: Full Peering and Encryption Unleashed"

**Теги:**

#HyperEcosystem #P2PApplications #Encryption #MeshNetworks #ZeroTrustMeshVPN #NomadNetwork #Reticulum #ShelterProtocol #NOSTR #DecentralizedNetworks #EndToEndEncryption

**Описание:**

In a world where the demand for secure communications is soaring, the Hyper ecosystem emerges as a revolutionary force. This comprehensive exploration delves into the Hyper module set, featuring components like Hypercore, Hyperdrive, Hyperswarm, and more, showcasing their potential in constructing diverse P2P applications. Keet, a P2P messenger, stands as a testament to Hyper's capabilities.

Discover the autonomy of the "peer-to-peer" organization, Holepunch, orchestrating Hyper's development in utmost privacy. Unveil Autobase, an innovative module simplifying the transformation of Hypercore logs. Then, witness the prowess of Keet, a real application embodying end-to-end encryption and Bitcoin Lightning P2P micropayments.

Venture into the realm of "zero-trust mesh networks," elucidating the fusion of VPNs, mesh networks, and the zero trust model. From decentralized networks like Yggdrasil to server-assisted P2P systems like Tailscale, explore the burgeoning landscape of secure mesh VPNs.

Embark on a journey through mesh networks designed for low-power devices, such as Meshtastic, facilitating long-distance radio communication using the LoRa RF protocol. Uncover Nomad Network and Reticulum, paving the way for resilient mesh networks.

Dive into the Shelter protocol, a breakthrough in end-to-end encryption for distributed web applications. Witness the evolution of peer-to-peer applications with Hyper, Shelter, and NOSTR protocols, envisioning a decentralized future with enhanced privacy and security.

The era of decentralized encrypted networks is upon us, offering a balance between freedom and security in an age where safeguarding communications is paramount. Explore the landscape of cutting-edge technologies reshaping the way we connect and communicate. 🌐🔒 #TechInnovation #PrivacyRevolution

▍ Hyper module set

Hyper is a set of small JavaScript modules that can be combined to create an unlimited number of P2P applications, from VPNs to communication tools like P2P messengerKeet. Today, Keet is practically the only real application built on Hyper, a kind of demonstration of the platform's capabilities.

Theoretically, all modules can be combined and mixed at your discretion. Since it's just JavaScript, app development is as easy as creating a web app.

The Hyper kit includes the following main components:

• Hypercore is a secure distributed journal. Designed to exchange large amounts of data and real-time data streams. Features include sparse replication, simple flat file structure for maximum I/O performance, security (signed Merkle trees for real-time log integrity checking), modularity.
  
• Hyperdrive is a secure, real-time distributed file system. Other models for working with files: Localdrive and Mirrordrive.
  
• Hyperswarm - distributed network stack for P2P communication.
  
• Hyperbeam - end-to-end encryption in the channel between two peers based on Hyperswarm.
  
• HyperDHT - Hyperswarm with DHT support (distributed peer detection - distributed holepunching, as in torrents).
• Hyperbee - B-tree based on Hypercore. Allows you to perform iterations with sorting and much more.
  
• Hypershell - spawns a terminal (shell) anywhere. Fully peer-to-peer, authenticated and encrypted. Supports all basic commands:

  # Создание ключей
  hypershell-keygen [-f keyfile] [-c comment]
  
  # Создание P2P-сервера
  hypershell-server [-f keyfile] [--firewall filename] [--disable-firewall] [--protocol name]
  
  # Подключение к P2P-шеллу
  hypershell <server key or name> [-f keyfile]
  
  # Локальный тоннель с перенаправлением на удалённый хост
  hypershell <server key or name> -L [address:]port:host:hostport
  
  # Копирование файлов (скачивание и отправка)
  hypershell-copy <[@host:]source> <[@host:]target> [-f keyfile]

  
  
  This is, in a sense, a demo version of other Hyper modules.
• Autobase - Automatically converts multiple causally related Hypercore logs into a single linearized log. The output of Autobase is a simple Hypercore, which means it can be used to transform higher-level data structures (such as Hyperbee) into multi-write data structures with minimal additional overhead.
  

Together, these modules form a complete framework for building encrypted P2P applications. All code is open source andpublished on Github.

The development is carried out by the organization Holepunch. But this is not an ordinary organization, but a “peer-to-peer” organization that “has no public representatives.” Only by joining this community can you see its other participants, and even then in an anonymous form. In general, maximum privacy borders on paranoia. Currently, the “peer-to-peer organization” has97 repositories.

As already mentioned, the only real application on Hyper modules is the P2P messengerKeet.

Keet supports end-to-end encryption and USDT/Bitcoin Lightning P2P micropayments. The client is available in versions for Windows, Linux, MacOS, iOS and Android . Due to peer-to-peer communications, it provides maximum video quality and file transfer of any size (it is limited only by the size of the drive on the recipient side and file system limits).

▍ VPN by peering. How zero trust mesh networks work

The aforementioned Hyper is a fundamental development that can become the basis for many applications. For example, there is a whole class of useful applications that can be called “zero-trust mesh networks” (Zero-Trust Mesh VPN).

Such systems combine three concepts:

1. VPN, providing fully encrypted and authenticated communications and stable IP addresses;
   
2. mesh network, in which devices automatically find the optimal paths to communicate with each other;
   
3. zero trust network model, in which no trust is required in any elements of the underlying network, since all traffic uses the secure systems from points 1 and 2.

There are also different types of mesh VPN applications. For example, fully decentralized networks with automatic routing, such as Yggdrasil and Tinc . On the other hand, there are P2P systems with dedicated servers for centralized control, such as Tailscale, Zerotier .NordVPN Meshnet. Due to the boom in the security market, more and more similar solutions have recently appeared, for example,Netmaker, Nebula,

▍ Mesh-sets on radio protocols

There are several protocols developed specifically for the Internet of Things and communication of low-power devices, sensors, walkie-talkies, united in a distributed network over a large area. These networks operate using radio protocols such as LoRa RF and do not require central nodes. It is believed that in the event of a global catastrophe on the planet, such networks will be able to continue functioning and will become the only means of communication between scattered camps of survivors.

In the event of a catastrophe or natural disaster, the simplest technologies and protocols are the most reliable. For example,Meshtastic is a long-distance radio communication service for low-power devices using the LoRa RF protocol. The transmission is carried out over tens of kilometers, and sometimes more than 100 km. This is also a suitable option for self-organization and communication of large groups of people who find themselves in approximately the same place: for example, at a festival or other public event, and cellular communication does not work.

ESP32 Development Board with LoRa Support on Aliexpress

In addition toa radio transmitter with an antenna you can buy, for example, a special case for a PinePhone with a LoRa antenna orinexpensive PDA for LoRa/WiFi.

Channel settings Meshtastic range from shortwave at up to 6.8 Kbps (fastest mode) to long wave at a maximum of 0.09 Kbps, i.e. 90 bps

Along with Meshtastic, we can mention Nomad Network, a prototype of a stable mesh network based on LXMFReticulum. In turn, Reticulum is a mesh network separate from the Internet with strong encryption.

Radio transmitters for the Nomad Network using the Reticulum protocol

“Reticulum is an attempt to create an alternative base-layer protocol for data networks,” says Mark Quist, developer of the network stack. — In fact, this is not one network, but a tool for building networks. It can be compared to IP, the Internet protocol stack that powers 99.99% of the networks on Earth. It solves the same problems that IP does in getting digital data from point A to point B, but it does it in a completely different way and with completely different assumptions. The real power of the protocol is that it can take all kinds of different communication media and connect them into a single network. Can use [long-range] transceivers, modems, radios, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or even a roll of old copper wire if you have the option."

▍ E2E encryption for distributed applications

The Shelter protocol has been developed specifically to encrypt traffic between distributed web applications. This is an original development that is based onsmart contract chains. Such chains are used to create and define concepts in programs, similar to how classes and objects are used in object-oriented programming, except that these classes and objects can be shared across many devices, maintaining their state even when end-to-end encrypted.< /span>

The Shelter protocol is based on encrypted messagesSPMessagethat define contracts and their actions. Each SPMessage is used to send one of the opcodes to the contract chain.

Example of a contract chain in Shelter

The very firstSPMessage in the contract chain defines the contract to be created and specifies its initial data. You can think of it as an OOP constructor used to instantiate a class.

All subsequent messages are used to update the state of this thread. These messages are usually called "actions" and can be thought of as method calls in OOP.

Together, these messages form a chain of events that is used to generate the state of a given chain of contracts.

All actions in Shelter are signed with a private key, which isderived from the password. Therefore, it is very important to use password salts to protect against brute force attacks. To receive and store salts, Shelter uses the Zero-knowledge Password Protocol (ZKPP). The user can prove to the server that he knows his password, and thus obtain the salt needed to calculate the private key.

New generation peer-to-peer applications are being created based on Hyper, Shelter and other peering protocols, which effectively replace old-generation centralized services. For the same purposes, the protocol NOSTR (Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays) was created, which the developers call “the simplest P2P protocol in existence.” The open and simple protocol runs on WebSocket servers (Rileys), which process and exchange very simple instructions (events) like this:

{
"id": <32-bytes sha256 of the serialized event data>
"pubkey": <32-bytes hex-encoded public key of the event creator>,
"created_at": <unix timestamp in seconds>,
"kind": <integer>,
"tags": [
["e", <32-bytes hex of the id of another event>, <recommended relay URL>],
["p", <32-bytes hex of the key>, <recommended relay URL>],
... // other kinds of tags may be included later
]
"content": <arbitrary string>,
"sig": <64-bytes signature of the sha256 hash of the serialized event data, which is the same as the "id" field>,
}

This is the basis of NOSTR transport. Theoretically, on its basis, without much effort, you can build a decentralized analogue of Twitter and other services, and with reliable, world-class end-to-end encryption. NOSTR is also seen as a more decentralized alternative, a better version of Mastodon. By the way, both NOSTR and Shelter borrowed some Bitcoin technologies for their protocols.

This pagelists applications made on the NOSTR protocol. These are web, desktop and console clients, mobile applications for iOS and Android, dozens of implementations for nodes (rileys, bridges, gates) and numerous libraries to integrate NOSTR into third-party applications, plus auxiliary tools for servicing nodes and clients, verification servicesNIP-05, etc.

Damus, Twitter-like client for iOS on the NOSTR protocol, with built-in encryption

It looks like the era of decentralized encrypted networks is coming. As has already become clear, in our time it is impossible to do without special measures to protect communications. Between freedom and security, society around the world chooses security, which is why surveillance cameras, facial recognition systems and wiretapping are installed everywhere.