Secure tunneling mechanism and data handling protocol for peer-to-peer decentralized networking

A method of peer-to-peer networking in a network operating environment, comprising:

• at a server peer:
• receiving a session request packet purporting to originate from an initiator peer;
• determining, using a hash table of one or more hash values, whether the initiator peer is recognized as one of a set of first peers that have previously registered with the server, a hash value in the hash table having been computed in a registration process that occurs prior to receipt of the session request packet;
• upon a determination that the initiator peer is recognized as one of the set of first peers, performing a message check using a static secret previously associated to the initiator peer during a registration to the server peer to verify that the session request packet actually originates from the initiator peer;
• when the message check succeeds, enabling initiation of a handshake protocol between the initiator peer and the server peer;
• and
• upon successful completion of the handshake protocol, receiving encrypted Internet Protocol (IP) packet delivery from the initiator peer;
• wherein the handshake protocol and the encrypted IP packet delivery utilize a data protocol over which encrypted frames are spreadable across multiple physical packets.

An apparatus, comprising:

• at least one processor, and
• computer memory holding computer program instructions executable by the at least one processor, the computer program instructions comprising program code configured to:
• receive a session request packet purporting to originate from an initiator peer;
• determine, using a hash table of one or more hash values, whether the initiator peer is recognized as one of a set of first peers that have previously registered with the server, a hash value in the hash table having been computed in a registration process that occurs prior to receipt of the session request packet;
• upon a determination that the initiator peer is recognized as one of the set of first peers, perform a message check using a static secret previously associated to the initiator peer during a registration to the server peer to verify that the session request packet actually originates from the initiator peer;
• when the message check succeeds, enable initiation of a handshake protocol between the initiator peer and the server peer;
• and
• upon successful completion of the handshake protocol, receive encrypted Internet Protocol (IP) packet delivery from the initiator peer;
• wherein the handshake protocol and the encrypted IP packet delivery utilize a data protocol over which encrypted frames are spreadable across multiple physical packets.