title: Parasitic computing.
abstract: Reliable communication on the Internet is guaranteed by a standard set of protocols, used by all computers. Here we show that these protocols can be exploited to compute with the communication infrastructure, transforming the Internet into a distributed computer in which servers unwittingly perform computation on behalf of a remote node. In this model, which we call 'parasitic computing', one machine forces target computers to solve a piece of a complex computational problem merely by engaging them in standard communication. Consequently, the target computers are unaware that they have performed computation for the benefit of a commanding node. As experimental evidence of the principle of parasitic computing, we harness the power of several web servers across the globe, which-unknown to them-work together to solve an NP complete problem.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA. alb@nd.edu
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Barabási
authors.forename: V W
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Freeh
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Brockman