Conference:  Defcon 31

Authors: Christien 'DilDog' Rioux Cult Of The Dead Cow, Katelyn 'Medus4' Bowden Cult Of The Dead Cow

2023-08-01

Veilid is an open-source, peer-to-peer, mobile-first networked application framework, with a flagship secure messaging application named VeilidChat. Veilid is conceptually similar to IPFS + Tor, but faster and designed from the ground-up to provide all services over a privately routed network. The network also enables development of distributed applications without a 'blockchain' or a 'transactional layer' at their base. Veilid can be included as part of user-facing applications or run as a standalone server for power users who wish to help build the network. Architecturally, it is written in Rust, uses strong encryption, and nodes can run on Linux, Mac, Windows, Android, iOS, and in-browser WASM. Low-level protocols over UDP, raw TCP, Websockets and Secure Websockets. Nodes are optimized for low latency, high node churn, and are particularly capable of dealing with low level network changes, such as switching from cellular to wifi networks mid-communication. This talk will focus on the internals of Veilid: * How it works as a protocol * How it leverages strong cryptography to provide private communications * How it provides decentralized storage and cryptographically sound data structures * How applications are written to leverage the Veilid Network We will demonstrate Veilid Server, and VeilidChat, the application.