Embedded BitTorrent: 1 of 5

Background: A client recently hired me to manage the development of an Internet-enabled product. I can't reveal too many details, but it runs a Embedded version of a popular Open Source OS, and needs to distribute encrypted data between nodes. We have been looking into the BitTorrent protocol for this. I have used BitTorrent many times to download Linux distributions, but never really dug unto the details before.

While researching the possibility of using BitTorrent (See _BitTorrent SDK for Devices_ at

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), I ran into some interesting information about attacks on BitTorrent P2P file distribution by MediaDefender / ArtistDirect, an anti-P2P (Peer to Peer Filesharing) contractor that is hired by major record labels and movie studios, supposedly to help prevent piracy of the client's copyrighted materials on BitTorrent networks.

Alas, it appears that MediaDefender attacks *all* BitTorrent users, potentially including my client. They attempt to insert bogus information so as to poison the BitTorrent networks, and they launch massive denial of service attacks on networks that attempt to block them from doing this -- even legitimate networks that are not in any way involved in piracy.

We are still going with BitTorrent, but we are also looking at various countermeasures and redundant backup methods to move our data in case we have similar problems -- or in case MediaDefender / ArtistDirect comes up with new ways to illegally screw with legitimate BitTorrent uses.

The following series of posts gives details of the attack. If you have no interest in Embedded BitTorrent, you might wish to skip the rest of this series of posts.

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