Improving Security and Accountability in Peer-to-Peer File Systems Through Metadata-Based Change Logging Techniques

Abstract

The Challenge of Securing Accountability in P2P File Systems Using Change Logging and Metadata Tracking: A more efficient method of data capturing and sharing has emerged due to the advent of P2P file systems, but concerns related to security, accountability, and file tracking still remain. Similar to systems such as IPFS, there are no policies in place that adequately cater to file change management, which automatically leads to unauthorized changes or file alteration. This paper highlights P2P file system security problems and issues of accountability. It discusses possible solutions in the form of change logging and metadata tracking, revealing the complexity of the problem. Critical pointer metadata such as file size, creation date, and modification time are logged, together with editing or file deletion logs that are generated for traceability. The files are protected against alteration which guarantees authenticity. Utilizing this system improves the overall integrity of data and helps ease compliance with HIPAA and the GDPR, increasing the level of control and accountability an organization has over files in a distributed system.