Editing Esim (section)

== Application 13: Secure DHT node IDs ==

Distributed hash tables (DHTs) are systems that attempt to allow a network of computers to manage a collection of key-value pairs. For example, animal1 = cat might be stored on two nodes in a network and replicated to more nodes as the network grows or as nodes hosting it leave.

DHTs can be used for all kinds of neat things like distributed file sharing and even video streaming, but they do contain one problem: '''they depend critically on good identity management to ensure that identities in the network are sufficiently random and that one entity cannot control more than one identity [dht-security].''' The problem is more complicated than it sounds if you don’t want to create a centralized registry!

A simple solution is to use eSIM-based identities. Have one valid identity per node in the network. You would have a very secure, federated identity system that could be further improved with SPV-block headers (to show deposit bonds for identity registration) or perhaps proof-of-work.

There are other ways to mitigate the damage that malicious node IDs can do in a DHT, but it’s beyond the scope of this post to go into them.

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