SOCKS

An internal development name that remained after general release.An IETF standard (RFC 1928, 1929, and 1961) networking proxy protocol that enables clients on one side of a firewall server to gain full access to clients on the other side without a direct Internet Protocol (IP) connection.The SOCKS server authenticates and authorizes requests from one side of the server, establishes a proxy connection to the other side, and relays data between the two through the use of secure sockets negotiated between client and server over a virtual circuit on a session-by-session basis. This process enables clients behind the firewall to gain full access to the Internet, but prevents unauthorized access from the Internet to the internal hosts. SOCKSv5, the current version, supports a variety of authentication methods and supports User Datagram Protocol (UDP) proxy. SOCKS runs at the Session Layer (Layer 5) of the OSI Reference Model. SOCKSv5 is a cross-platform technique, working across multiple operating systems (OSs) and browsers. SOCKSv5 also interoperates on top of IPv4, IPsec, PPTP, L2TP, and other lower-level protocols. See also authentication, authorization, browser, client, firewall, host, IETF, Internet, IP, IPsec, IPv4, IPv6, L2TP, OS, OSI Reference Model, PPTP, protocol, proxy, server, session, Session Layer, socket, tunneling, UDP, and virtual circuit.