![]() ![]() This type of change has most commonly been associated with many of the computer scareware packages that have been deployed across the Internet through maliciously infected websites, Trojan horse viruses, and infected email attachments. The 127.0.0.1 IP address is commonly found in the Hosts file on computers assigned to the plain English address, “localhost.” It is also used by computer malware to assign legitimate websites to the localhost to prevent the end-user from seeking legitimate computer security assistance with malware infection. Whenever a computer user tries to access a website or remote computer by name, the computer checks the locally stored Hosts file for domain name resolution before sending a request to the Domain Name Server (DNS). This was found to not pass the test of scalability however, when multiple networks started to get connected together which resulted in the development of the DNS system in use today. Before the invention of DNS, there was a single Hosts file that was shared across the network. The hosts file contains pairings of IP addresses along with one or more host names and is updated frequently based on predefined conditions on the local computer. Before a local computer will send a DNS request to the DNS server for the local network however, it will perform a check of the locally stored Hosts file first to save time and network resources. As a result, the Domain Name System (DNS), was developed to help direct local and Internet traffic to the appropriate destination by performing real-time look-ups of Internet address with other DNS servers located on the Internet. Plain language web addresses however, are much easier to use, but require a method to resolve to the actual address of the remote computer or server. Human beings are not able to easily remember IP addresses or number well. This aspect of the loopback helps ensure network security is maintained, since most computers will answer packets addressed to their respective loopback address which may also unexpectedly activate other services on a machine by responding to a stray data packet. As a result, if a data packet is delivered outside of the localhost, by design it will not accidently arrive at a computer which will try to answer it. If any public switch, router, or gateway receives a packet addressed to the loopback IP address, it is required to drop the packet without logging the information. When establishing an IPv4 connection with 127.0.0.1 will normally be assigned subnet mask 255.0.0.1. System administrators and application developers commonly use 127.0.0.1 to test applications. The primary difference is that the connection avoids using the local network interface hardware. How Does 127.0.0.1 Work?Įstablishing a network connection to the 127.0.0.1 loopback address is accomplished in the same manner as establishing one with any remote computer or device on the network. The protocol does not guarantee delivery, data integrity, or proper data sequencing instead, relying on the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to handle these concerns. IPv4 is considered to be a connectionless protocol designed to be used on Ethernet-based networks. IPv4 is slowly being replaced by IPv6, but it’s adoption is still in infancy. IETF RFC 791, which was finalized in September of 1981, is the current definition of the protocol. Internet Protocol version 4 (or IPv4) is the fourth revision of the protocol and is the most widely deployed throughout the world. Besides governing the method of addressing, the IP protocol also standardizes the manner or method that data packets are sent to, delivered, and where applicable acknowledged across the Internet and local networks. The Internet Protocol (IP) is a set of rules that ensure there is a standardized method to address and communicate between computers and other network devices. The loopback construct gives a computer or device capable of networking the capability to validate or establish the IP stack on the machine. Establishing a connection using the address 127.0.0.1 is the most common practice however, using any IP address in the range of 127.*.*.* will function in the same or similar manner. The same convention is defined for computer’s that support IPv6 addressing using the connotation of ::1. 127.0.0.1 is the loopback Internet protocol (IP) address also referred to as the “localhost.” The address is used to establish an IP connection to the same machine or computer being used by the end-user. ![]()
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