Martian Packet

What Does Martian Packet Mean?

A Martian packet is a term for a specific kind of IP-routed data packet that has some suspicious markers. In most cases, the address space used has not yet been allocated by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

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A Martian packet may also be called a bogon.

Techopedia Explains Martian Packet

System administrators and other network professionals are encouraged to mark and observe bogons or Martian packets to look for signs of denial of service attacks or other hacking or network dysfunctionality.

Martian packets get their name because they seem to come from an impossible source. The name may also be related to the term Martian address, which is used to refer to the unroutable addresses often associated with IP spoofing.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…