PARASITIC COMPUTING
Parasitic computing is a concept by which one can
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 processing of any packet they
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
problem2.
Introduction
THE NET is a fertile place where new
ideas/products surface quite often. We have
already come across many innovative ideas such as
Peer-to-Peer file sharing, distributed
computing and the like. Parasitic computing, which
harnesses the computing power of
machines that spread across the Net to accomplish
complex computing tasks, is new in
this category. The successor to distributed
computing has opened up a whole new can of
worms. It works by exploiting a weakness in the
TCP/IP system's error checking system.
The problem is that forcing target machines into
performing calculations puts a greater
load on them than a regular packet would, and the
server owner has not agreed to take
part - in effect the technique is stealing processing
power, but without breaking any laws.
Although the technique is too slow to have much
practical value at present, it does raise
questions for the future. The report discusses the
technical aspects of what has already
been carried out and the related issues.
DETAILS OF PARASITIC
COMPUTING
use the resources of machines that
are connected on the Internet. This technology
exploits open Internet protocols to use the
resources of remote machines. As the name
suggests, the machine that requires the
services of others does not need to be authorized by
the latter. Any machine, which is
connected to the Internet, has to carry out minimum
receive without any authorization. This concept is
exploited by parasitic computing in
order to make use of computing powers of remote
machines and web servers all around
the globe. So one cannot really stop their machines
from being utilized in this manner.
How it differs from cluster computing?
Parasitic computing differs from cluster computing.
Cluster computing is an idea in
which many computers pool in their resources
willingly to create a cumulative power
equivalent to that of a supercomputer capable of
solving complex computational
problems. In contrast, parasitic computing does not
require the willingness of any target
machine to participate in the problem solving. This
way one can make use of many
distributed resources across the Internet, which is
otherwise remaining idle. Also if one
divides the task in such a manner that no computer
is overloaded remote machine
performance won’t deteriorate much and our task
will be also be accomplished.
It is not cracking.
Parasitic computing though works without
authorization it is entirely different from
the concept of cracking. In cracking data is sent to
the remote computer with malicious
intentions and in order to corrupt some resource of
the remote machine whereas in this
case we are utilizing those resources for a
constructive purpose and also accessing only
those parts of remote machines, which are made
open on the Internet and that is done
without any malicious intentions but it can cause
delay of services in the remote
machines as resources are being utilized without the
knowledge of the owner.
CONCLUSION: The question of where
research on parasitic computing is headed is an
interesting one from
several perspectives. From an efficiency standpoint,
as noted above, some attention could be
focused on how the overall paradigm can be
improved along the lines noted by Barabasi et al.
(2001): “To make the model viable, the
computation-to-communication ratio must increase
until the computation exported by the parasitic node
is larger than the amount of cycles
required by the node to solve the problem itself
instead of sending it to the target” (p. 897).
One way to do this, as noted by Freeh (2002), is to • Barabasi et.al. Supplement material for Parasitic
increase the number of packets sent by a Computing :
parasite to a single host. Such an approach also http://www.nd.edu/~parasite/
would increase the importance of dealing with • Barger N. Robert & Crowell R. Charles,The ethics
the reliability problems associated with parasitic of Parasitic
computing (i.e., false negatives and false Computing, Sept 2003 :
positives). In terms of the TCP/IP vulnerability www.nd.edu/~ccrowell/Parasitic%20Computing.pdf
exploited by parasitic computing, Freeh (2002) • Ivars Peterson, Sneaky Calculations, Science
has noted that more work is needed to better define News 160, 17 Nov 2001.
and understand the viability and level of •
threat associated with various forms of exploitation www.hindu.com/thehindu/2001/09/13/stories/08130
inherent in Internet protocols. Finally, with 001.htm
respect to a justification for parasitic computing,

REFERENCES:
• Barabasi et.al., Parasitic Computing, NATURE
412, 30 Aug 2001.