I
ICMP: ICMP, or Internet Control Message Protocol, is part of the Internet Protocol (IP) portion of TCP/IP. Common network testing commands such as PING and TRACERT (Trace Route) rely on the ICMP protocol. Also Known As: Internet Control Message Protocol
Identity Theft: Identity theft occurs when an attacker impersonates or pretends to be you. By acquiring key pieces of information such as your Social Security Number, birth date, home address, drivers license number or other sensitive, personal information, an attacker may be able to convince an individual or organization that they are you and access your accounts, open new accounts in your name or purchase merchandise in your name. Also Known As: ID Theft
IDS: An IDS (Intrusion Detection System) is a device or application used to inspect all network traffic and alert the user or administrator when there has been unauthorized attempts or access. The two primary methods of monitoring are signature-based and anomaly-based. Depending on the device or application used, the IDS can either simply alert the user or administrator or it could be set up to block specific traffic or automatically respond in some way.
Signature-based detection relies on comparison of traffic to a database containing signatures of known attack methods. Anomaly-based detection compares current network traffic to a known-good baseline to look for anything out of the ordinary. The IDS can be placed strategically on the network as a NIDS (network-based intrusion detection) which will inspect all network traffic or it can be installed on each individual system as a HIDS (host-based intrusion detection) which inspects traffic to and from that specific device only.Also Known As: Intrusion Detection System, HIDS (Host Intrusion Detection System), NIDS (Network Intrusion Detection System)
Instant Messaging: Instant messaging (or IM) offers users the ability to communicate in real time. Starting with IRC (Internet Relay Chat) users became hooked on the ability to “chat” in real time rather than sending emails back and forth or posting to a forum or message board.
Online service providers like America Online (AOL) and Compuserve created proprietary messaging systems that allowed users to see when their buddies were online and available to chat (as long as they use the same instant messaging software). ICQ introduced an IM system that was not tied to a particular ISP and that kicked off the mainstream popularity of Instant Messaging. Also Known As: IM
Internet: Originally a project called Arpanet created by the United States government in conjunction with various colleges and universities for the purpose of sharing research data. As it stands now, there are millions of computers connected to the Internet all over the world. There is no central server or owner of the Internet- every computer on the Internet is connected with every other computer.
Intranet: An Intranet is an Internet with restricted access. Corporate Intranets generally use the exact some communication lines as the rest of the Internet, but have security in place to restrict access to the employees, customers or suppliers that they wish to grant it to.
IP Address: An IP Address is used to uniquely identify devices on the Internet. In IPv4, the current standard, it is a 32-bit number made up of 4 8-bit blocks. In standard decimal numbers, each block can be any number from 0 to 255. A standard IP Address would look something like “192.168.45.28″.
Part of the address is the newtork address which narrows the search to a specific block- similar to the way your postal mail is first sent to the proper zip code. The other part of the address is the local address that specifies the actual device within that network- similar to the way your specific street address identifies you within your zip code. A subnet mask is used to determine how many bits make up the network portion and how many bits make up the local portion.
The next generation of IP (IPv6 or IPng) has been created and is currently being implemented in some areas. It has a 128-bit address which will allow for an exponential increase in the number of available addresses as the Internet continues to explode.
IP Spoofing: IP spoofing is the act of replacing the IP address information in a packet with fake information. Each packet contains the originating and destination IP address. By replacing the true originating IP address with a fake one a hacker can mask the true source of an attack or force the destination IP address to reply to a different machine and possibly cause a denial of service.
IP: The Internet Protocol (IP) is used to deliver data packets to their proper destination. Each packet contains both the originating and destination IP address. Each router or gateway that receives the packet will look at the destination address and determine how to forward the packet on. The packet will be passed from device to device in this way until it reaches its destination. Also Known As: Internet Protocol
IPv4: The current version of IP used on the Internet is version 4 (IPv4). IP is used to direct packets of information to their correct address. Due to a shortage of available addresses and to address the needs of the future an updated IP is being developed (IPv6).
IPv6: To address issues with the current IP protocol in use (IPv4 or version 4) and to add features to improve the protocol for the future the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has introduced IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) also known as IPng (Internet Protocol Next Generation).
IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses rather than the current 32-bit addresses allowing for an exponential increase in the number of available IP addresses. IPv6 also adds new security and performance features to the protocol. IPv6 is backwards compatible with IPv4 so that different networks or hardware manufacturers can choose to upgrade at different times without disrupting the current flow of data on the Internet.
ISP: An ISP, or Internet Service Provider, is a company that has the servers, routers, communication lines and other equipment necessary to establish a presence on the Internet. They in turn sell access to their equipment in the form of Internet service as dial-up, cable modem, DSL or other types of connections. The larger ISP’s form the backbone of the Internet. Also Known As: Internet Service Provider