Invulnerability of grown Peer-to-Peer networks under progressive targeted attacks

•The dynamics ensure an attacked grown P2P network restore a PL nature to original.•GDR process recovers high degree peers to normal under progressive targeted attacks.•A reverse percolation process can glue the small fragmented component into GCC.

Security issues of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks have attracted more and more research in recent years. In this paper, using complex features of P2P networks, we shift the focus to the study of invulnerability of grown P2P networks under progressive targeted attacks. Based on dynamic process and reverse percolation theory, we present several mechanisms that attacked P2P networks can adopt to minimize the disasters aftermath progressive targeted attacks. In this process, we proposed: (i) the dynamics of grown P2P networks under targeted attacks can make sure an attacked P2P network restore a power-law (PL) characteristic to a normal level; (ii) a global degree restoring process from the aftermath of progressive targeted attacks can restore the status of set of high degree peers to normal; (iii) a reverse percolation process glues the fragmented small connected component of a destroyed grown P2P network into a giant connected component (GCC). Experimental results show that an attacked grown P2P network can restore the key characteristics, such as power-law characteristic of original P2P network, the set of high degree peers and the giant connected component, to a regular status. In this way, we can illustrate the invulnerability of progressive targeted attacks on grown P2P networks which is particularly useful in designing complex P2P networks.