I2P is a handy tool that enables apps to securely chat. The network itself is strictly message based , but there is a library available to allow reliable streaming communication on top of it. I2P is an application that allows users to communicate via IP address.
All communication is end to end encrypted (in total there are four layers of encryption used when sending a message), and even the end points ("destinations") are cryptographic identifiers (essentially a pair of public keys).
To hide the sent messages, each client application has their I2P "router" build a few inbound and outbound "tunnels" - a sequence of peers that pass messages in one direction (to and from the client, respectively).
In turn, when a client wants to send a message to another client, the client passes that message out one of their outbound tunnels targeting one of the other client's inbound tunnels, eventually reaching the destination.
Every participant in the network chooses the length of these tunnels, and in doing so, makes a tradeoff between anonymity, latency, and throughput according to their own needs.
The result is that the number of peers relaying each end to end message is the absolute minimum necessary to meet both the sender's and the receiver's threat model.
What's New in This Release:
Anonymity Improvements:
· End-to-end encryption of responses to leaseset lookups
· Expand floodfill pool by enabling class 'N' floodfills
· Randomize padding inside encrypted SSU packets
· Preparation for better SSU protocol obfuscation
Bug Fixes:
· Fix newer lease sets not getting stored or published
· Fix classpath bug when used with 4-year-old installations, causing the console not to start
· Fix addressbook database bug preventing update of the reverse index
· Fix i2psnark bug that changed the infohash of torrents created by Robert and fetched via magnet link
· Fix version checking for plugins
· Fix a streaming timer bug causing frequent IRC disconnects (also affects other close-on-idle tunnels)
Other:
· Don't install as a service on Windows by default
· Reduce transport idle timeouts
· Reduce tunnels on idle in i2psnark
· Change default in i2ptunnel GUI to 3 hops
· IE 10 support
· Individual expiration times in leases, for efficiency on destinations with a high number of tunnels
· Low-level encryption and XOR ...