Hyphanet facts for kids
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FProxy index page (Freenet 0.7)
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| Initial release | March 2000 |
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| Stable release |
0.7.5 build 1498
 / 23 September 2024 |
| Written in | Java |
| Operating system | Cross-platform: Unix-like (Android, Linux, BSD, macOS), Microsoft Windows |
| Platform | Java |
| Available in | English, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Chinese, Russian |
| Type | Anonymity application, peer-to-peer, friend-to-friend, overlay network, mix network, distributed data store |
| License | GNU General Public License version 3 only |
Hyphanet (called Freenet until mid-2023) is a special online platform. It helps people communicate and share information anonymously. This means you can share things without others knowing who you are. It also helps against censorship, which is when someone tries to stop you from sharing information.
Hyphanet works by using a decentralized system. This means there's no main computer in charge. Instead, information is stored and delivered by many different computers. This makes it harder for anyone to control or block what people share. The goal of Hyphanet, set by its creator Ian Clarke, is to protect freedom of speech on the internet. Many other programs and tools use Hyphanet's system. These include tools for sharing short messages, pictures, and even for creating anonymous blogs.
Contents
How Hyphanet Works
Hyphanet helps you stay anonymous online. It does this by breaking down content into small, encrypted pieces. These pieces are then stored on many different user computers. When you ask for content, your request travels through several other computers. Each computer passes the request along without knowing what the full file is. This makes it very hard to know who asked for the content or where it came from.
This system is a bit like how internet routers send data. But Hyphanet adds strong encryption and doesn't rely on central servers. This allows users to share or get information without revealing their identity.
Storing and Sharing Data
Hyphanet doesn't just send data; it also stores it. Each user's computer on the network sets aside some disk space for this. Files are broken into many small blocks. These blocks are then spread across different computers. This means one file can have parts stored on many different nodes (user computers).
When you want to share a file, you "insert" it into the network. Once inserted, the file is stored within the network itself. This means the original computer that shared it doesn't need to stay online. The file will still be available for others to find. No single computer is fully responsible for the content. Instead, it's copied and spread among many different nodes.
This design has two big benefits:
- Reliability: Information stays available even if the original sharer goes offline.
- Anonymity: Content is spread anonymously as encrypted blocks, not whole files.
One challenge is that if a piece of data isn't asked for often, a node might eventually delete it. This happens when the node needs space for newer, more popular data. So, Hyphanet tends to "forget" data that isn't used regularly. Also, once data is inserted, there's no way to delete it. Because it's anonymous, no one knows who originally shared it. The only way data leaves the network is if no one requests it anymore.
Connecting to the Network
Typically, a computer runs the Hyphanet software. This software acts as a "node" and connects to other nodes. Together, they form a large network of peer computers. Some nodes are used by people to access documents. Other nodes simply help route data. All nodes communicate in the same way. There are no special "clients" or "servers."
Hyphanet is designed as a small-world network. This means that even though each node only knows a few direct "neighbors," it's usually easy to find a short path to any other node. When a message is sent, it travels from neighbor to neighbor. Each node only knows its direct neighbor. It doesn't know if that neighbor is the final stop or just passing the message along. This helps protect everyone's anonymity.
Each node keeps a record of documents it stores. It also tracks how well other nodes perform when finding different content.
Network Security: Opennet vs. Darknet
Since version 0.7, Hyphanet offers two ways to connect:
- Opennet: In this mode, your computer connects automatically to any other Hyphanet user. It's easy to use.
- Darknet: Here, you connect only to "friends" or people you know and trust. You exchange special "node-references" (like digital keys) with them. This mode is more secure against attackers. It can even make it hard for someone (like a strict government) to know you are using Hyphanet at all.
You can use both modes at the same time. The darknet mode is especially helpful because human relationships often form small-world networks. This allows Hyphanet to find short paths between any two people, even in a very large network. This means that even small darknets can connect to the larger Hyphanet network. This allows all users to access all content, no matter how they connect.
Hyphanet's History and Development
Hyphanet started as a student project by Ian Clarke in 1999 at the University of Edinburgh. His report laid the groundwork for a famous paper in 2001. This paper became one of the most cited computer science articles in 2002.
Hyphanet has been constantly updated since 2000.
- Freenet 0.7: Released in May 2008, this was a big update. It added support for "darknet" operation. This version also switched from TCP to UDP. This made message transfer faster.
- Freenet 0.7.5: Released in June 2009, this version improved memory use and made content retrieval faster. It also improved the web interface for browsing "freesites."
- Later updates (like build 1226 in 2009) added security improvements. These protect against network attackers and physical seizure of computers.
- In 2015, the core of Freenet stopped using the db4o database. This helped improve how it works with the Web of Trust plugin, which fights spam.
- Hyphanet has always been free software. In 2011, it became compatible with OpenJDK. This is a free and open-source version of the Java Platform.
In February 2015, Hyphanet received the SUMA-Award. This award was for its "protection against total surveillance."
Features and User Interface
Hyphanet is different from many other file-sharing programs. It separates its network structure from how users interact with it. This means there are many ways to access content. The easiest way is through FProxy. This is a web interface built into the software. With FProxy, you can browse "freesites." These are websites that use normal HTML but are stored within Hyphanet. The web interface is also used to change settings and manage your node.
You can also use other programs or plugins with Hyphanet. These allow you to do things like join message boards or share files. While Hyphanet has a web interface, it's not like a regular proxy for the internet. You can only access content that has been put into the Hyphanet network. It's more like Tor's onion services than a general anonymous web browser.
Hyphanet focuses on free speech and anonymity. This means it works to protect both people who upload data and those who download it.
Content on Hyphanet
The creators of Hyphanet believe that true freedom of speech needs true anonymity. They think the good uses of Hyphanet are more important than any negative uses. They believe that information itself is not a crime. Hyphanet tries to stop any group from forcing its beliefs on data. What one group finds acceptable, another might find offensive. The main goal of Hyphanet is to make sure no one can decide what information is allowed or not.
It's hard to track how much Hyphanet is used in countries with strict internet rules. One group, Freenet China, tried to introduce the software to Chinese users starting in 2001. They shared it through emails and disks after their website was blocked. In 2002, Freenet China reportedly had thousands of users. However, Hyphanet's opennet traffic was blocked in China around the 2010s.
Technical Details
Hyphanet stores documents and lets you find them later using a special "key." The network is designed to be very strong and hard to shut down. It has no central servers and no single person or group controls it. Information on Hyphanet is spread across the network and stored on many different nodes. Data is encrypted, and requests are relayed. This makes it hard to know who put content into Hyphanet, who asked for it, or where it's stored. This protects users' anonymity and makes it very difficult to block specific content.
Content is stored encrypted. This means even the person running a node can't easily tell what's on their computer. This provides "plausible deniability." This means they can claim they don't know what's on their node.
Keys for Content
Keys are like unique identifiers for content on Hyphanet. There are two main types of keys:
- Content Hash Key (CHK): This is a unique code created from the content itself after it's encrypted. If someone tries to change the data, the CHK will no longer match. This makes CHKs tamper-proof. They also help save space because the same data will always have the same CHK.
- Signed Subspace Key (SSK): These keys use public-key cryptography. Content inserted with an SSK is signed by the person who put it there. This signature can be checked by any node to make sure the data hasn't been changed. SSKs can be used to create a verifiable anonymous identity on Hyphanet. A special type of SSK, called an Updatable Subspace Key (USK), allows content to be updated securely with version numbers.
Tools and Applications
Hyphanet itself doesn't do everything. It's built in a modular way. It has an API (a set of rules for programs to talk to each other) called Freenet Client Protocol (FCP). Other programs use this API to create services like:
Communication Tools
- Freenet Messaging System (FMS): This tool was made to fix problems like spam and attacks on other messaging systems. Users publish lists of people they trust. Then, they only download messages from those they trust. FMS is developed anonymously and is a separate program that connects to Hyphanet.
- Frost: This tool helps with file sharing. However, it can be vulnerable to spam and denial-of-service attacks. Frost is a separate Java program that works with Hyphanet.
- Sone: This tool offers a simpler interface, similar to Facebook. It allows for public anonymous discussions and image galleries.
Utilities
- jSite: This tool helps you upload websites to Hyphanet. It handles the keys and manages the file uploads.
- Infocalypse: This is an extension for the Mercurial version control system. It helps manage code and data on Hyphanet efficiently.
Hyphanet in the News
Hyphanet has received a lot of attention from major news outlets. This includes articles in The New York Times, and coverage on CNN, 60 Minutes II, the BBC, and The Guardian.
As mentioned, Hyphanet also received the SUMA-Award in 2014 for its role in "protection against total surveillance."
Freesites
A "freesite" is a website hosted directly on the Hyphanet network. These sites contain only static content, like regular HTML pages. They cannot have active content like server-side scripts or databases. Freesites support many features, depending on what your web browser allows. However, the Hyphanet software will remove parts of the code that might reveal your identity. For example, it will block code that tries to access things on the regular internet.
Images for kids
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A typical request sequence. The request moves through the network from node to node, backing out of a dead-end (step 3) and a loop (step 7) before locating the desired file.
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The effect of the node specialising on the particular location.
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Screenshot of Frost running on Microsoft Windows
See also
In Spanish: Freenet para niños
