Socks

: SOCKS or socks uses sockets to keep track of individual connections. The client side of SOCKS is built into several web browsers while the server side can be added to a proxy server. A SOCKS server may handle requests from clients from within an organization’s firewall and either allow or reject requests for connection. This is typically based on the requested internet destination or a user’s identification. Once a subsequent bind request and a connection have been established, the flow of data exchange follows the usual protocol such as HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). The SOCKS protocol was initially developed by David Koblas, a system administrator for MIPS Computer Systems. MIPS was eventually bought out by Silicon Graphics in 1992, causing Koblas to present SOCKS at that year’s Usenix Security Symposium. From there, SOCKS became widely available to the public. It was then upgraded to version 4 by Ying-Da Lee of NFC.