TCP Sequence Prediction

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What Does TCP Sequence Prediction Mean?

TCP sequence prediction involves assessing messages transmitted over TCP protocol between a receiver and a sender and understanding the sequence that governs the series of data packets. It can be useful in a certain type of hacking effort called a TCP sequence prediction attack.

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Techopedia Explains TCP Sequence Prediction

In a TCP sequence prediction attack, the hacker is trying to predict the sequence of the next data packet to be sent. If he or she can successfully guess the sequence number, that party can interject a data packet with the same sequence number arising from the same IP address and successfully submit fraudulent packets to the receiver.

In order to figure out the sequence number, the hacker might listen in on the communication or assess it to see the series of sequence numbers, in order to predict which sequence number is coming next. These types of problems illustrate TCP/IP vulnerabilities relevant to the common internet protocol.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist
Margaret Rouse
Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.