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I am writing an expansion for the Stub article for MILNET for my university class.

MILNET in the United States, 1989

Internet history timeline

Early research and development: 1960–1964: RAND networking concepts developed 1962–1964: ARPA networking ideas 1965 (1965): NPL network concepts conceived 1966 (1966): Merit Network founded 1967 (1967): ARPANET planning begins 1967 (1967): Symposium on Operating Systems Principles 1969 (1969): NPL followed by the ARPANET carry their first packets 1970 (1970): Network Information Center (NIC) 1971 (1971): Tymnet switched-circuit network 1972 (1972): Merit Network's packet-switched network operational 1972 (1972): Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) established 1973 (1973): CYCLADES network demonstrated 1973 (1973): PARC Universal Packet development begins 1974 (1974): Transmission Control Program specification published 1975 (1975): Telenet commercial packet-switched network 1976 (1976): X.25 protocol approved and deployed on public data networks 1978 (1978): Minitel introduced 1979 (1979): Internet Activities Board (IAB) 1980 (1980): USENET news using UUCP 1980 (1980): Ethernet standard introduced 1981 (1981): BITNET established Merging the networks and creating the Internet: 1981 (1981): Computer Science Network (CSNET) 1982 (1982): TCP/IP protocol suite formalized 1982 (1982): Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) 1983 (1983): Domain Name System (DNS) 1983 (1983): MILNET split off from ARPANET 1984 (1984): OSI Reference Model released 1985 (1985): First .COM domain name registered 1986 (1986): NSFNET with 56 kbit/s links 1986 (1986): Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) 1987 (1987): UUNET founded 1988 (1988): NSFNET upgraded to 1.5 Mbit/s (T1) 1988 (1988): Morris worm 1988 (1988): Complete Internet protocol suite 1989 (1989): Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) 1989 (1989): PSINet founded, allows commercial traffic 1989 (1989): Federal Internet Exchanges (FIX East|FIXes) 1990 (1990): GOSIP (without TCP/IP) 1990 (1990): ARPANET decommissioned 1990 (1990): Advanced Network and Services (ANS) 1990 (1990): UUNET/Alternet allows commercial traffic 1990 (1990): Archie search engine 1991 (1991): Wide area information server (WAIS) 1991 (1991): Gopher 1991 (1991): Commercial Internet eXchange (CIX) 1991 (1991): ANS CO+RE allows commercial traffic 1991 (1991): World Wide Web (WWW) 1992 (1992): NSFNET upgraded to 45 Mbit/s (T3) 1992 (1992): Internet Society (ISOC) established 1993 (1993): Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) 1993 (1993): InterNIC established 1993 (1993): AOL added USENET access 1993 (1993): Mosaic web browser released 1994 (1994): Full text web search engines 1994 (1994): North American Network Operators' Group (NANOG) established Commercialization, privatization, broader access leads to the modern Internet: 1995 (1995): New Internet architecture with commercial ISPs connected at NAPs 1995 (1995): NSFNET decommissioned 1995 (1995): GOSIP updated to allow TCP/IP 1995 (1995): very high-speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS) 1995 (1995): IPv6 proposed 1996 (1996): AOL changes pricing model from hourly to monthly 1998 (1998): Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 1999 (1999): IEEE 802.11b wireless networking 1999 (1999): Internet2/Abilene Network 1999 (1999): vBNS+ allows broader access 2000 (2000): Dot-com bubble bursts 2001 (2001): New top-level domain names activated 2001 (2001): Code Red I, Code Red II, and Nimda worms 2003 (2003): UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) phase I 2003 (2003): National LambdaRail founded 2004 (2004): UN Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) 2005 (2005): UN WSIS phase II 2006 (2006): First meeting of the Internet Governance Forum 2010 (2010): First internationalized country code top-level domains registered 2012 (2012): ICANN begins accepting applications for new generic top-level domain names 2013 (2013): Montevideo Statement on the Future of Internet Cooperation 2014 (2014): NetMundial international Internet governance proposal 2016 (2016): ICANN contract with U.S. Dept. of Commerce ends, IANA oversight passes to the global Internet community on October 1st Examples of Internet services: 1989 (1989): AOL dial-up service provider, email, instant messaging, and web browser 1990 (1990): IMDb Internet movie database 1994 (1994): Yahoo! web directory 1995 (1995): Amazon online retailer 1995 (1995): eBay online auction and shopping 1995 (1995): Craigslist classified advertisements 1995 (1995): AltaVista search engine 1996 (1996): Outlook (formerly Hotmail) free web-based e-mail 1996 (1996): RankDex search engine 1997 (1997): Google Search 1997 (1997): Babel Fish automatic translation 1998 (1998): Yahoo Groups (formerly Yahoo! Clubs) 1998 (1998): PayPal Internet payment system 1998 (1998): Rotten Tomatoes review aggregator 1999 (1999): 2ch Anonymous textboard 1999 (1999): i-mode mobile internet service 1999 (1999): Napster peer-to-peer file sharing 2000 (2000): Baidu search engine 2001 (2001): 2chan Anonymous imageboard 2001 (2001): BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing 2001 (2001): Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 2003 (2003): LinkedIn business networking 2003 (2003): Myspace social networking site 2003 (2003): Skype Internet voice calls 2003 (2003): iTunes Store 2003 (2003): 4chan Anonymous imageboard 2003 (2003): The Pirate Bay, torrent file host 2004 (2004): Facebook social networking site 2004 (2004): Podcast media file series 2004 (2004): Flickr image hosting 2005 (2005): YouTube video sharing 2005 (2005): Reddit link voting 2005 (2005): Google Earth virtual globe 2006 (2006): Twitter microblogging 2007 (2007): WikiLeaks anonymous news and information leaks 2007 (2007): Google Street View 2007 (2007): Kindle, e-reader and virtual bookshop 2008 (2008): Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) 2008 (2008): Dropbox cloud-based file hosting 2008 (2008): Encyclopedia of Life, a collaborative encyclopedia intended to document all living species 2008 (2008): Spotify, a DRM-based music streaming service 2009 (2009): Bing search engine 2009 (2009): Google Docs, Web-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, form, and data storage service 2009 (2009): Kickstarter, a threshold pledge system 2009 (2009): Bitcoin, a digital currency 2010 (2010): Instagram, photo sharing and social networking 2011 (2011): Google+, social networking 2011 (2011): Snapchat, photo sharing 2012 (2012): Coursera, massive open online courses 2016 (2016): TikTok, video sharing and social networking

In computer networking, MILNET (fully Military Network) was the name given to the part of the ARPANET internetwork designated for unclassified United States Department of Defense traffic.

History

Background and split from ARPANET

In 1980, the TCP/IP protocol was adopted as a Defense Standard, enabling the eventual separation of MILNET from the ARPANET. The ARPANET remained in service for the academic research community, but direct connectivity between the networks was severed for security reasons. The MILNET and the ARPANET used very similar technology.

MILNET was officially established on April 4, 1983, as a dedicated network for U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) communications. Upon its creation, the Computer Science Institute billing system for ARPANET service was discontinued for DoD nodes and TACs designated to migrate to MILNET.

The split was planned years in advance by researchers and companies funded by the DARPA. BBN, a DARPA contractor, built and maintained both ARPANET and MILNET.

Early infrastructure

After the split, MILNET nodes were relocated to secured military sites, unlike ARPANET’s nodes, which remained in academic and research laboratories. Initially, MILNET shared ARPANET’s infrastructure, using IMPs (Interface Message Processors) with separate gateways to enforce isolation between the two networks.

At its launch, MILNET connected 68 primary sites, including DoD bases and defense contractors. Though smaller than ARPANET initially, MILNET continued to expand over time. The network was officially managed by the Defense Communications Agency (DCA), and later absorbed into the DISA.

Integration into the Defense Data Network

By 1982, MILNET was incorporated into the Defense Data Network (DDN), a larger framework for military communications. It remained a key component until its eventual absorption into the DISN in the 1990s.

Technical Design and Operations

Network Protocols and Access

MILNET users accessed the network through host-to-host connections, primarily using the TELNET protocol for remote login and the FTP for file transfers.

To connect to a remote host, a user first logged into a local MILNET node, then invoked TELNET by specifying the target host’s address or hostname. Authentication required a valid username and password. TELNET also supported direct connections to specific port numbers (sockets) for dedicated services. Sessions terminated upon logout.

FTP enabled cross-platform file transfers, including between systems with different operating systems. Users needed either a valid account on the remote host, or for public files, the "anonymous" login convention. Anonymous FTP only permitted downloads. Uploads required privileged credentials. Files also needed explicit "read access" permissions to be transferred.

Security Infrastructure

MILNET was designed for non-classified military communications up to the "Confidential" level. More sensitive data used segregated systems like SPIRNET.

The network initially shared IMPs with ARPANET but enforced isolation through dedicated gateways. It employed encryption for sensitive traffic, though specific mechanisms remained classified. Access required military authorization, and the TACACS authentication system was deployed to manage terminal connections.

MILNET’s early topology (circa 1985), showing IMPs and gateways

Management and Expansion

MILNET was managed by the Defense Communications Agency (DCA), later part of the DISA. By the 1990s, it was absorbed into the DISN, with its architecture influencing successors like NIPRNet (unclassified) and SIPRNet (classified).

Security Incidents

Markus Hess Espionage (1986–1987)

From 1986 to 1987, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBL) detected unauthorized intrusions into military and academic systems via MILNET and ARPANET. The attacker, later identified as German hacker Markus Hess, was found to be extracting sensitive data for the Soviet KGB. The investigation, led by LBL systems administrator Clifford Stoll, involved monitoring Hess's activities for ten months before collaborating with German and U.S. authorities to apprehend him. Hess was convicted of espionage in Germany in 1990 but received a suspended sentence.

The breach was first detected due to a minor accounting discrepancy in an LBL system account lacking a billing address. The National Computer Security Center later alerted LBL to suspicious MILNET activity originating from the lab. Researchers deployed line printers and serial port monitors to log the intruder’s keystrokes and network traffic offline. Surveillance revealed Hess had exploited LBL’s systems as a gateway to attack approximately 450 military and academic computers, with successful intrusions into over 30.

Methods Used

Hess employed:

• Brute-force attacks guessing default credentials like "root" or "guest".
• Exploitation of a privilege-escalation flaw in GNU Emacs’ `movemail` utility.
• Dictionary attacks on cracked UNIX password files harvested from poorly secured systems.
• X.25 networks and compromised dial-up modems to obscure his location.

LBL researchers created decoy files purportedly related to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). When Hess accessed these, German telecom technicians identified his physical location, leading to his arrest.

Julian Assange Hack (Early 1990s)

In the early 1990s, Julian Assange (then a "black hat hacker") claimed to have infiltrated the Pentagon’s Security Coordination Center (SCC), a MILNET security hub in Chantilly, Virginia. Assange stated:

We had a backdoor in the U.S. military Security Coordination Center –- this is the peak security for controlling the security of MILNET… U.S. military internet. We had total control over this for two years.

Legacy

MILNET played a pivotal role in the evolution of U.S. military networking infrastructure. By the 1990s, MILNET was absorbed fully into the Defense Information Systems Network (DISN), serving as the foundation for modern United States military networks.

Successor Networks and Influence

MILNET's architecture directly influenced:

• The NIPRNet (Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router Network), which inherited its unclassified communication functions.
• The SIPRNet (Secret Internet Protocol Router Network), designed for classified data transmission.
• Early adoption of TCP/IP as a military standard, which later became the global internet standard.
• Development of gateway isolation techniques between classified and unclassified networks.
• Implementation of the TACACS authentication model, which evolved into modern network access control systems.