As a result, SOCKS can be used for email, web browsing, peer-to-peer sharing, file transfers and more. Since SOCKS sits at layer 5, between SSL (layer 7) and TCP/UDP (layer 4), it can handle several request types, including HTTP, HTTPS, POP3, SMTP and FTP. From a security perspective, it won’t allow an attacker to perform scans using tools such as Nmap if they are scanning based on half-open connections because it works at layer 5. This includes things such as ping, Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), etc.

SOCKS is a layer 5 protocol, and it doesn’t care about anything below that layer in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model - meaning you can’t use it to tunnel protocols operating below layer 5. Therefore, a SOCKS proxy relays a user’s TCP and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) session over firewall. The SOCKS proxy server doesn’t interpret the network traffic between client and server in any way it is often used because clients are behind a firewall and are not permitted to establish TCP connections to outside servers unless they do it through the SOCKS proxy server. SOCKS is designed to route any type of traffic generated by any protocol or program.Ī SOCKS proxy server creates a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection to another server behind the firewall on the client’s behalf, then exchanges network packets between the client and the actual server. SOCKS, which stands for Socket Secure, is a network protocol that facilitates communication with servers through a firewall by routing network traffic to the actual server on behalf of a client.

Now that we have a general sense of how a proxy works, let’s zoom in on a specific type of proxy - SOCKS - and, specifically, the SOCKs5 variant. A proxy server can encrypt your data so it is unreadable in transit and block access to certain webpages based on IP address. They also have caching mechanisms that store requested resources to improve performance. All incoming data enters through one port and is forwarded to the rest of the network via another port.Īside from traffic forwarding, proxy servers provide security by hiding the actual IP address of a server. It acts as a gateway between a local network and a large-scale network, such as the internet.Ī proxy server works by intercepting connections between sender and receiver. In computer networks, a proxy or proxy server is a computer that sits between you and the server.

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