arpa

[shanti]

ok, i'm concerned. my zone alarm detected a packet from this group. i did a google and wasn't pleased with what i found....should i be worried? apparently, my firewall worked, but....

[shanti]

1. anyone??

:-(

[no name no slogan]

2. ARPA? As in the creators of ARPANet?

ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Admin) were the ones who laid the foundation for the internets in the 50s-60s. Their creation, the ARPANet, allowed the government and universities to communicate with each other in the case of an attack that destroyed existing communication infrastructure.

Quite frankly, I wouldn't be too worried if they're sending you packets. Now, if YOU'RE machine is sending them packets without your authorization...

[Az]

3. Arp

Arp is the means by which hardware identifies itself to recieve an IP address. Arp tables are maintained by servers and routers. When a peace of hardware comes online it may signal that it is looking for an ip address. It sends out its mac address to whatever arp tables may be in the area and if one responds it takes its address from this.

Arp addressing is not as common in the public sector as it once was. Most systems either maintain their own IP address or use DHCP servers. Arping is more common in the unix world.

It may well be that it was just an arp request that came through to your system for some reason. If it does not persist it is likely nothing to worry about.