Network security. What is socks?
So the next article in the series “network security.” In this paper, we consider a variety of proxy servers – socks-server. As always, for clarity of the material to propose a plan for the start of today’s article.
1.What is socks?
As usual, the start address to the official literature, namely Wikipedia. It reads:
«SOCKS – a network protocol that allows client-server applications to transparently use the services behind a firewall (firewall). SOCKS – an acronym for «SOCKet Secure». »
Translated into Russian – “socks”. Therefore, the common people are sometimes referred to as simply the socks. Learn more about socks.
A small story:
This type of proxy has been designed by Dave Koblasom out of SGI. In the beginning of its existence, the protocol socks experienced several large modifications and finally today “in work” are two versions Socks4 (also 4a) and Socks5. If we talk about the difference between them, to put it simply, we can say that only supports Socks4 protocol TCP, and in addition a Socks5 UDP, authorization and remote dns-query.
Maybe you have a question, but how do they differ from http-proxy. It must be said that Http-proxy use slightly different technology than socks-proxy. All Socks-Proxy considered anonymous, unnecessarily data transfer socks-server transfers all the data in its pure form in the first person – ie away. Accordingly, these data do not have any information about the client or his IP-address, or information about the browser or OS. Socks are also the benefits include the possibility of constructing the circuit. Of course there is the same opportunity and http-proxy, but only http everything is more complicated, it is necessary to support the http-proxy to redirect requests, and such proxy does not say too much.
Next to your question might be: “What makes it possible to build a chain?”
Well, I think obviously if collecting socks-proxy in the chain, they will pass information to each other, respectively, farther from the first socks-server, so get more confusing way of our inquiry and the more difficult to identify the sender 
And this is a big anonymity us and our computer.