Understanding the Internet

Every time your computer connects to the Internet, you enter a digital war zone. The
online community is full of hackers, virus coders, Web thieves, and other predators.
Everyday, hackers wage war against computer systems. In order to survive these daily
battles, you must fully understand the battleground.

In its simplest terms, the Internet defines the collection of connected computers
throughout the world. However, the true definition is much greater. In fact, the Internet
is a catalyst of creativity and education that goes far beyond the hardware as its
physical boundaries. This is demonstrated by the evolution of the Internet from two
computers connected together to the Web of computers and other devices that is has
become

The Internet was formulated as a side project of an organization called the Advanced
Research Projects Agency (ARPA). ARPA was originally an organization of scientists
and university scholars. During the mid 1960s, the main goal of this organization was
the advancement of the New Frontier, which at that time was outer space. Due to the
complexity of the great frontier, ARPA had many scientists from universities around the
world working simultaneously on this project. One of these scientists was Bob Taylor.

As a computer specialist for ARPA, Taylor understood the difficulties of long distance
data transfer and recognized the need for a system of data communication. This would
not only speed up communication between scientists, but would also accelerate work on
the project. During his research for possible ways to accomplish this formidable goal,
he came across the designs of Paul Baran.

Baran had designed a communication system that was built on breaking a chunk of
data, like a document file, into little packets of information. These packets could then be
sent across lines of communication to their destination. Once all the packets arrived at
the target, they could be reassembled into the original file.

This system was embraced for two main reasons: On one hand, a large file was broken
down into multiple, smaller files would not clog a connection. On the other hand, the
fragmentation of information would make it difficult for someone to eavesdrop. This
vestigial Internet was called Arpanet and it was first implemented in 1969. It was
another three years before Arpanet was shown to the public.

The other key component to Arpanet was the TCP/IP. This protocol or set of rules
defined the addressing and delivery of information packets for the first Internet. One of
the main reasons TCP/IP as chose as the communications protocol is because it is an
open source. No one company owned it, which meant there was no proprietary piece
of software or hardware needed to use it.

Currently, the Internet is growing at such a rate that its entire infrastructure is being
redesigned. In fact, the Internet 2 has already been created, which is ironically
designated specifically for research between scientists and scholars. Thus, the Internet
has come a full circle.

This new and improved Internet is made of the latest equipment and is many times
faster than the Internet that the general public currently uses. Furthermore, as the
demand for Web-based media and research grows, the Internet as we know it today will
continue to evolve into an expected and needed means of existence, as compared to
the mainly educational and entertainment package it has been.

Inventors have created new computer systems that connect household appliances,
cars, and even the human body to the Internet; these devices will be available soon.
There are even plans for a completely safe and traceable Internet, which would
eliminate many of the threats and problems to which Internet users are currently
exposed. However, until such time, it is your responsibility to protect yourself.

The Internet Service Provider

Understanding the role of the ISP is essential to understanding the Internet. Absolutely
everyone uses an ISP when connected to the Internet. It is important to recognize the
role of ISP, especially when it comes to the subject of tracking hackers.

All digital roads lead to an ISP. All hack attempts leave a path right back to the hackers
ISP, which is why the ISP is the one organization that controls if and when law
enforcement tracks a hacker. Even governmental agencies, such as the FBI and CIA,
require the assistance of an ISP when tracking hackers and other criminals online.

An ISP is really nothing more than a gateway between the individual computer and the
Internet.

Dial-Up
A POP (point of presence), once created is set at a central location to serve the largest
possible number of subscribers. This is often a site that provides service to the greatest
number of people within a local calling plan.

At the POPs, there are stacks of modems waiting for incoming calls. These modems
are just like the ones that are found in the average home PC. This modem similarity is
necessary because a PCs modem must be able to communicate with the ISPs modem
in order to connect to the Internet. After the initial connection is set up, a user name and
password are required so that the ISP knows who is connecting. Once the login
process has completed, you are connected to the Internet.
Cable Modem

A cable connection operates on a different technology than the analog dial up

connection. Instead of using an existing phone line to connect, it uses a cable line.
However, unlike a dial up modem, you can watch TV and surf at the same time. This
reason is in the way a cable modem splits the bandwidth of the cable line into separate
signals.

A cable wire has the ability to carry multiple channels to its customer. To a cable
company, your Internet connection is just another channel, The only difference is that
you will be sending information back to the cable company through the cable line,
instead of just receiving information from the cable company in the form of a TV
channel.

So, just as you never really make a connection when you turn your TV se on, you really
do not make an initial connection when you turn your computer on. You are always
connected. Its that simple. No user names, no passwords, no signing in. you are just a
number to the cable companys equipment. However, do not be fooled by the apparent
anonymity of the connection. Just as with a regular dial up account, your activities
online are being logged.

DSL/ADSL

A Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modem uses an existing telephone line to make its
connection, just like a dial up modem. The reason it can use the phone line is because
a telephone wire can support a wide range of frequencies. Since the audible
frequencies are on the low side, the rest of the range is available for other forms of
communication. Thus, you can use these frequencies to send and receive data.

However, you are limited in the distance that your signal can go. This is because the
equipment that strengthens your voice is not compatible with the signal your modem
uses. Until this is corrected, you must be within a few miles of the telephone companys
equipment room. The farther away you are, the lower your bandwidth. Although these
central offices rooms can exist almost everywhere, DSL technology is so new that it
will take years to build close to most customers.

Just like a cable modem, you are always connected with a DSL modem, you are always
connected with a DSL modem. Your login is irrelevant because your connection is
permanent. In this case, you are still logged and monitored.

Whether you use cable, DSL or dial up, the rest of the connection process is similar.
Once you get past the specific hardware that is needed for each type of connection,
your data will eventually pass into a router that acts as a digital traffic policeman. A
router is simply a device that is used to pass information from one network to another.
Every ISP uses routers to connect its network through a high speed connection to the
great network that is collectively known as the Internet.
ISP Logging

The POPs will often have a log of all the information traveling across their routers and to
and from the modem to which you are connected. This information can easily be cross-
referenced with the login information collected when your computer makes the initial
connection. The logs can also provide searchers with the originating phone number of
the customer who is connecting. This information is very much handy when attempting
to track down a hackers address.

To successfully log each incoming call, the ISP labels each of the modems that are
installed at the POP. This is evident when you use a tracing tool to track down the
hackers signal. Depending on the security setup of the ISP, a trace can provide you
with the computers modem connection name. Using this name, you can find out some
very useful information. For example, the hackers ISP may have a modem with the
label 25-176.pm4-2,Lancaster.supernet.com. From this information, you can deduce
that the hacker is connected through the Supernet ISP out of Lancaster. If you then
browsed the Web site at www.supernet.com, you could tell what state and town the
hacker was in, and you could find a technical support number for reporting the hacker.

One other key piece of information stored in the logs is the exact time at which uses
connect and disconnect to the ISPs modem. This time is important when you want to
report a hack attempt. Without the exact time, the information gathered on the hacker is
useless. This is because once the hacker disconnects, someone else will use that
same port. As little as 24 hours, 100 different people could use the same port, which
makes pinning down one suspect very difficult. ISPs do not generally have one unique
connection available for each customer they have signed up. In fact, it is common for
an ISP to have one modem for every 50 or more customers in the area. Without the
exact time of the hack attempt, the ISP might accuse the wrong person of hacking a
computer.

Proxy ISPs

When people connect to AOL, they are not really connected directly to the Internet.
Instead, they are connected to AOL, which in turn is connected to the Internet. This is
considered a proxy connection. In fact, this is similar to the type of Internet setup that
business use. Usually, a business will have one or two connections that are shared by
everyone in the company. The computer that is actually connected to the Internet is
referred to as a proxy server. In other words, it receives a request for a Web page,
downloads it, and then passes it on to the computer that requested it.

If the proxy server has caching (or storing) ability, it will temporarily store any
downloaded Web pages on its hard drive for the net time it is requested. This can
speed up the downloaded time for popular sites because the Web page only has to be
delivered from the proxy computer, as compared to being delivered from a computer
halfway around the world. However, caching can have an interesting side effect. If the
original Web site is taken down due to repairs, is updated with new information, or is no
longer there, the Web pages from that site will still exist in the cache! So, when a
computer requests a Web page from this invalid site, the cache may still deliver the Web
page it has stored in memory. Because of this, the cache only stores the Web pages
temporarily. If the cache were not cleared out, Web users would never know if the
information they were looking at was current.

For this reason, more sophisticated proxy servers verify that there is no new information
at the cached Web site. If there is new information, the cache is dumped and a fresh
Web page is downloaded.

Proxy ISPs also have another key advantage over regular ISPs. Since previously
downloaded Web pages are often stored on local computers, they can easily be
scanned by a content filtering program then grouped into categories. This makes it
more efficient to set up parental control and other censoring programs. In traditional
ISPs, the Web pages can be scanned as it passes through the ISPs POP before it is
delivered to the requesting computer, but this slows the whole transfer process down.
Thanks to the cached Web pages, programs can search and categorize during the early
morning hours or when there is a low demand for Internet access, therefore speeding
up the whole filtering process.

Traditional ISPs do not use a proxy server or filtering software on your Internet
connection. These serves are often available upon request, but they can limit many of
the advantages of being hooked directly into the Internet. Whereas it is true that AOL
users can play online games with other AOL users, they may have a difficult time
connecting to a game server outside of AOL community. This is because proxy ISPs
cannot forward all incoming and outgoing information. Users also will not be able to set
up Web servers, ftp servers, or any other kind of Web-based applications. Because of
this, it is difficult to find many serious computer users with proxy ISPs.

Regardless of the type, all ISPs work essentially the same. A computer makes a
connection to a POP, from which the connection is relayed through a proxy setup or a
router to the Internet. The connection is labeled and traceable. It is also logged
numerous times by different pieces of hardware. This is why you can use this
knowledge in combination with a tracing tool to track down hackers.

This, there are two main types of ISP: proxy and traditional. Each has its own
advantages and disadvantages. Proxy services can filter and download Web pages
more efficiently for the ISP. However, if you want the full power of the Internet for home
use or for your small business, you will need a traditional ISP.