DID: 4046925 UNCLASSIFIEDHFOR OFFlCI:A.L USE ONLY Abuide To Internet ReseQf'ch ~he opinionsexpressed inthisarticleare hoseoftheauthor(s)anddo notrepresent lheofficialooinionofNSAfCSS. pprovedfor Releaseby NSA on (b) (3) -P.L. 86-36 4-19-2013 FOIA Case# 70381 UNCLASSIFIEDl.l~OR OFFICIAL USE ONLY DOCID: 4046925 UNCLASSIFIEDHFOROFFICIAL USE et4LY Untangling the Web:An Introduction to Internet Research by! luCenterJQLDigitalContent Last Updated: February 28,2007 I Cover Design byl (b) (3) -P.L. 86-36 UNCLASSIFIEDNFOROFFICIAL USE ONLY DID: 4046925 UNCLASSIFIEDilfiOftOfifilelALUSE Or<tLY Ti"lis I'roelt"Jet Iia~ beeFl I'roelt"Jeeel for offieial use oFlly. TAis19roel!:lot is FlOt a19pro,,'eel for puslie releose. Ti"le iFlforffiotioFl eOFltoiFleeJ i"lereiFl is for ti"le exelmlive t"Jse of ti"le origiFlal reeil'ieFlt aFlei is FlOt for furtAer eJistribt"Jtiol' ot"Jtsiele ti"le reeil'ielIt's ageFle~ or orgaFliz:atioFl. 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Ultil"l,ate Ie!I'01I!ibilit~ for tlIe I'loteetio" of tlds I'loelt"Jet froffi I'ublie elisoles!:lre rosielos '/litA tAo !:lsor, ,uitA sovore 130Floltios for ROR eOffipliaFlee. j;or aelelitioFlal iFlfOFlTlatioFl, please eOFltoet: I I 9800 Savage Road Suite 6324 Fort Meade, MD 20755-6324 (b) (3) -P.L. 86-36 UNCLASSIFIEDA'FOROFFICIAb blii g~ll.¥ DOCID: 4046925 UNCLASSIFIEDiiFOROFFlel~LUSEONLY This Page Intentionally Left Blank UNCLASSIFIEDh'FgRgFFlOIALUSE O'RY 4046925 DOCID: UNCLASSIFIEDHI"'6R61"'1"'IeiALUSE 6NLY Table of Contents Preface: The Clew to the Labyrinth 1 "Every Angle of the Universe" 5 What Will I Learn? 6 Why Do I Need Help? 7 What's New This year 8 Introduction to Searching 11 Search Fundamentals - 11 The Past, Present, and Future of Search 12 Understanding Search Engines 18 Search Engine Basics 20 A Word About Browsers: Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox 22 The Great Internet Search-Ofts 26 Types of Search Tools 28 Web Directories/Subject Guides/Portals : 28 Metasearch Sites 30 Megasearch Sites 35 Types of Searches and the Best Ways to Handle Them 36 Search Savvy-Mastering the Art of Search 43 Google 47 Google Hacks 73 Yahoo Search 89 Yahoo Hacks 113 Windows Live Search 118 Gigablast 141 UNCLASSIFIEDIfFOROFFISIAL l::JSE ONLY DOClD: 4046925 UNCLASSIFIEDllfQROFFlOI,fcLl:J5EDr4LY Exalead 146 Ask 161 More Help: Internet Guides and Tutorials 173 Specialized Search Tools & Techniques 175 "Google Hacking" 175 Custom Search Engines 186 Fagan Finder 193 Wikipedia 202 Maps and Mapping 215 Uncovering the "Invisible" Internet 239 A9 Search 239 Book Search 245 Answers.com 260 OAlster 264 The Internet Archive & the Wayback Machine 267 Other Invisible Web Resources 273 Casting a Wider Net-International Search, Language Tools 277 International Search 277 Online Dictionaries and Translators 288 You Gotta Know When to Fold 'Em 304 Beyond Search Engines-Specialized Research Tools 306 Email Lookups 308 Telephone and FAX Directories 311 Online Videos and Video Search 317 Online Audio, Podcasts, and Audio Search 344 ii UNCLASSIFIED{{FOROFFICIAL I:JSE QNLY DOCID: 4046925 UNCLASSIFIEDNIKQRQlKlKlCIAb UiE Q~lbY Special Topics-News, Blogs, & Technology Search 349 Newsgroups, Forums, & Mailing Lists 349 Weblogs & RSS Feeds 356 General News Sources 361 News Sites & Search Engines 362 Technology News Sources 377 Telecommunications on the Web 379 Research How-Tos 384 Finding People 384 Using the Internetto Research Companies 400 How to Research a Specific Country 411 Finding Political Sites on the Web 419 Research Round-up: The Best Research Tips &Techniques 424 Researching &Understanding the Internet 433 A Plain English Guide to Internetworking 433 Researching Internet Statistics 441 Regional Registries and NICs 443 Domain Name Registries 449 Understanding Domain Name and Whois Lookup Tools 451 World Network Whois Databases: AfriNIC, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC, & RIPE ..455 Global Network Whois Search Tools 456 Domain Name Whois Lookups 458 Internet Toolkits 471 How to Research a Domain Name or IP Address 474 Traceroute 483 UNCLASSIFIED"IZOROlZlZlCIAb UiE O~ILY iii DOClD: 4046925 UNCLA55IFIED,lfIBQROFFlGI~L USE ONLY Geolocating Internet Addresses 497 Finding ISPs & Internet Access Points 503 Cybergeography,Topology, and Infrastructure 511 Internet Privacy and Security-Making Yourself Less Vulnerable in a Dangerous World 514 Basics for Improving Your Internet Privacy and Security 518 Increase Your Knowledge 521 Browser Concerns 525 Email Concerns 543 Microsoft and Windows Concerns 560 Handle with Care: More Privacy and Security Concerns 578 General Security & Privacy Resources 605 . Conclusion 606 Web Sites by Type 607 iv UNCLA551FIEDHFOROFFICIAL USE m.LY DOClD: 4046925 UNCLASSIFIEDNFQROFFICIALUSE Or~LY Preface: The Clew to the Labyrinth One of the most famous stories about libraries tells of the tenth century Grand Vizier of Persia, Abdul Kassem Ismael who, "in order not to part with his collection of 117,000 volumes when traveling, had them carried by a caravan of 400 camels trained to walk in alphabetical order." However charming this tale may be, the actual event upon which it is based is subtly different. According to the original manuscript, now in the British Museum, the great scholar and literary patron Sahib Isma'i1 b. 'Abbad so loved his books that he excused himself from an invitation by King Nuh II to become his prime minister at least in part on the grounds that four hundred camels would be required for the transport of his library alone.2 A 21st Century version of the story might feature any number of portable electronic devices-a laptop, a POA, or even a mobile phone-designed to overcome this difficulty. Today, 1000 years later, the Persian scholar/statesman would have to find a new excuse for declining the job offer. Abdul Kassem Ismael (aka Sahib Isma'il b. 'Abbad) would be hard pressed to explain Why he couldn't just find what he needed on the Internet. The message seems to be that'books are passe, replaced by ones and zeroes, the real world replaced by a virtual one, knowledge supplanted by information at best and chaotic data at worst. Have we shrunk the world or expanded it? Or have we in some way replaced it? Untangling the Web for 2007 is the twelfth edition of a book that started as a small handout. After more than a decade of researching, reading about, using, and trying to understand the Internet, I have come to accept that it is indeed a Sisyphean task. Sometimes I feel that all I can do is to push the rock up to the top of that virtual hill, then stand back and watch as it rolls down again. The Internet-in all its glory of information and misinformation-is for all practical purposes llrnttless.:which of course means we can never know it all, see it all, understand it all, or even imagine all it is and will be. The more we know about the Internet, the more acute is our 1Alberto Manguel, A HistoryofReading, New York: Penquin, 1997,19.Manguel cites as his source Edward G.Browne'sA LiteraryHistoryofPersia,4 vols.,London: T. Fisher Unwin,1902-24. Ifound the specific reference tothis story on pages 374-375 of Vol. 1,Book IV,"Decline ofthe Caliphate." There is,sadly, no mention ofthe alphabetical arrangementofthe library.This entire masterpiece is availableonline atThe Packard Humanities Institute,Persian Texts inTranslation,23 February2006, <http://persian.packhum.orq/persian/pf?fiIe=90001011&ct=O>(15 November2006). 2 Edward G. Browne.Vol. 1,Book IV,"Declineofthe Caliphate," A LiteraryHistoryofPersia,"4 vols., London: T.Fisher Unwin, 1902-24,374-375.Available online atThe Packard Humanities Institute, Persian Texts inTranslation,23 February 2006, <http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=90001011&ct=O>(15 November2006). UNCLASSIFIEDA'FOROFFICIAb UiEiOtalLY 1 DOCID: 4046925 UNCLASSIFIEOIlj;QRQFFl61AL l:JSE er~LY awareness of what we do not know. The Internet emphasizes the depth of our ignorance because "our knowledge can only be finite, while our ignorance must necessarily be Infinite." My hope is that Untangling the Web will add to our knowledge of the Internet and the world while recognizing that the rock will always roll back down the hill at the end of the day. I will end this beginning with another story and a word of warning. "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" describes the discovery of an encyclopedia of an unknown planet. This unreal world is the creation of a secret society of scientists, and gradually, the imaginary world of Tlon replaces and obliterates the real world. Substitute "the Internet" for Tlon and listen. Does this sound familiar? "Almost immediately, reality yielded on more than one account. The truth isthat it longed to yield...The contact and the habit of Tlon have disintegrated this world. Enchanted by its rigor, humanity forgets over and again that it is a rigor of chess masters, not of angels...A scattered dynasty of solitary men has changed the face of the world. Their task continues. Ifour forecasts are not in error, a hundred [or a thousand] years from now someone will discover the hundred volumes of the Second Encyclopedia of Tlon, Then English and French and mere Spanish will disappear from the globe. The world will be Tlon." 4 As we enjoy, employ, and embrace the Internet, it is vital we not succumb to the chauvinism of novelty, that is, the belief that somehow whatever is new is inherently good, is better than what came before, and isthe best way to go or best tool to use. I am reminded of Freud's comment about the "added factor of disappointment" that has occurred despite mankind's extraordinary scientific and technical advances. Mankind, claims Freud, seems "to have observed that this newly-won power over space and time, this subjugation of the forces of nature, which is the fulfillment of a longing that goes back thousands of years, has not increased the amount of pleasurable satisfaction which they may expect from life and has not made them feel happier." Indeed, most of the satisfactions derived from technology are analogous to the "cheap enjoyment...obtained by putting a bare leg from under the bedclothes on a cold winter night and drawing it in aqam." What good is all this technology and information if, instead of improving our lot, it only adds to our confusion and suffering? We are continually tempted to treat all technology as an end in itself instead of a means to some end. The Internet is no exception: it has in large 3Karl Popper, Conjectures and Refutation: The Growth ofScientific Knowledge, London & New York: Routledge, 2002, p. 38. 4Jorge Luis Borges, "Tlon, Uqbar, OrbisTertius," in Labyrinths, ed. Donald A. Yates and James E. Irby, NewYork: New Directions Books, 1962, 17-18. 5 Sigmund Freud, "Civilization and Its Discontents,"tr. James Strachey, NewYork: Norton, 1962,34 35. 6 Freud, 35. 2 UNCLASSIFIEOHFOROFFl61AL l:ISEONLY