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The ABCs of
TCP/IP
Given an appreciation for the use of active and passive OPEN calls to
establish a TCP connection, one can now explore the manner by which TCP
segments are exchanged. The exchange of segments enables a session to
occur. The initial exchange of datagrams that transport TCP segments is referred
to as a three-way handshake. It is important to note how and why this process
occurs. It has been used in modified form as a mechanism to create a denial-
of-service (DoS) attack, which is discussed in Chapter 5 and 10.
The Three-Way Handshake
To ensure that the sender and receiver are ready to commence the exchange
of data requires that both parties to the exchange be synchronized. Thus,
during the TCP initialization process, the sender ...