IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority)

IANA is one of the primary governing bodies for Internet networking. IANA oversees three key aspects of the Internet: top-level domains (TLDs), IP address allocation and port number assignments.

ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol)

ICMP is a network protocol useful in Internet Protocol (IP) network management and administration. ICMP is a required element of IP implementations. ICMP is a control protocol, meaning that it does not carry application data, but rather information about the status of the network itself. ICMP can be used to report:

• errors in the underlying communications of network applications
• availability of remote hosts
• network congestion

Perhaps the best known example of ICMP in practice is the ping utility, that uses ICMP to probe remote hosts for responsiveness and overall round-trip time of the probe messages. ICMP also supports traceroute, that can identify intermediate "hops" between a given source and destination.

Internet

The term Internet today refers to the global network of public computers running Internet Protocol. The Internet supports the public WWW and many special-purpose client/server software systems. Internet technology also supports many private corporate intranets and private home LANs. The term "Internet" was originally coined in the 1970s. At that time, only the very meager beginnings of a public global network were in place. Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, a number of smaller national networks like ARPANET, BITNET, CSNET, and NSFNET evolved, merged, or dissolved, then finally joined with non-US networks to form the global Internet.

IP (Internet Protocol)

IP is the primary network protocol used on the Internet, developed in the 1970s. On the Internet and many other networks, IP is often used together with the Transport Control Protocol (TCP) and referred to interchangeably as TCP/IP. IP supports unique addressing for computers on a network. Most networks use the IP version 4 (IPv4) standard that features IP addresses four bytes (32 bits) in length. The newer IP version 6 (IPv6) standard features addresses 16 bytes (128 bits) in length. Data on an IP network is organized into packets. Each IP packet includes both a header (that specifies source, destination, and other information about the data) and the message data itself. IP functions at layer 3 of the OSI model. It can therefore run on top of different data link interfaces including Ethernet and Wi-Fi.

IPSec

IPsec is a technology standard for implementing security features in Internet Protocol (IP) networking. IPsec network protocols support encryption and authentication. IPsec is most commonly used in so-called "tunnel mode" with a Virtual Private Network (VPN). However, IPsec also supports a "transport mode" for direct connection between two computers.

IPv6

IPv6 is the next generation protocol for Internet networking. IPv6 expands on the current Internet Protocol standard known as IPv4. Compared to IPv4, IPv6 offers better addressing, security and other features to support large worldwide networks. In IPv6, IP addresses change from the current 32-bit standard and dotted decimal notation to a new 128-bit address system. IPv6 addresses remain backward compatible with IPv4 addresses. For example, the IPv4 address "192.168.100.32" may appear in IPv6 notation as "0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:C0A8:6420" or "::C0A8:6420". The most obvious benefit of IPv6 is the exponentially greater number of IP addresses it can support compared to IPv4. Many countries outside the U.S. suffer from a shortage of IP addresses today. Because IPv6 and IPv4 protocols coexist, those locales with an address shortage can easily deploy new IPv6 networks that work with the rest of the Internet. Experts believe it will take many more years before all networks fully change over to IPv6. Other benefits of IPv6 are less obvious but equally important. The internals of the IPv6 protocol have been designed with scalability and extensibility in mind. This will allow many different kinds of devices besides PCs, like cell phones and home appliances, to more easily join the Internet in future.

IP address

An IP address is a logical address for a network adapter. The IP address uniquely identifies computers on a TCP/IP network.  An IP address can be private - for use on a local area network (LAN) - or public - for use on the Internet or other wide area network (WAN). IP addresses can be determined statically (assigned to a computer by a system administrator) or dynamically (assigned by another device on the network on demand).

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)

ISDN is a network technology that supports digital transfer of simultaneous voice and data traffic. Similar to DSL in this respect, an ISDN Internet service works over ordinary telephone lines. ISDN Internet service generally supports data rates of 128 Kbps. ISDN emerged as an alternative to traditional dialup networking during the 1990s. The relatively high cost of ISDN service, though, limited its popularity with residential customers at the outset. More recently, the much higher network speeds supported by newer broadband technologies like DSL have drawn many consumers away from ISDN service. ISDN technology today has limited applications as a networking solution. Some customers who live in rural areas of the U.S. subscribe to ISDN Internet as an alternative to satellite Internet. ISDN phone service also remains fairly common in some European countries.

ISP (Internet Service Providers)

An ISP is a company that supplies Internet connectivity to home and business customers. ISPs support one or more forms of Internet access, ranging from traditional modem dial-up to DSL and cable modem broadband service to dedicated T1/T3 lines.

Keylogger

A keylogger is a hardware device or a software program that records the real time activity of a computer user including the keyboard keys they press.

Local Area Network (LAN)

A local area network (LAN) supplies networking capability to a group of computers in close proximity to each other such as in an office building, a school, or a home. A LAN is useful for sharing resources like files, printers, games or other applications. A LAN in turn often connects to other LANs, and to the Internet or other WAN.

Most local area networks are built with relatively inexpensive hardware such as Ethernet cables, network adapters, and hubs. Wireless LAN and other more advanced LAN hardware options also exist.

The term LAN party refers to a multiplayer gaming event where participants bring their own computers and build a temporary LAN.