Service identification in TCP/IP : well-known versus random port numbers

The sixteen-bit well-known port number is often overlooked as a network identifier in Internet communications. Its purpose at the most fundamental level is only to demultiplex flows of traffic. Several unintended uses of the port number evolved from associating services with a list of well-known port numbers. This thesis documents those unintended consequences in an effort to describe the port number's influence on Internet players from ISPs to application developers and individual users. Proposals and examples of moving away from well-known port numbers to randomly assigned ones are then presented, with analysis of impacts on the political and economic systems on which Internet communication is dependent.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Masiello, Elizabeth

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• David D. Clark.

• Technology and Policy Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/34537

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/34537