Citrix Systems Inc has added SOCKS support to its ICA Independent Computing Architecture protocol, as used in its thin-client hosting software for Windows NT. Support for versions 4 and 5 of SOCKS (it stands for sockets) strengthens the security capabilities of ICA. SOCKS is a proxy protocol that acts as a network firewall enabling hosts behind a SOCKS server to gain full access to the internet, while preventing unauthorized access from outside. Support will be phased in over the next six to nine months, beginning with the Macintosh client (already out) and following with Java and Windows CE ICA clients. Support for SOCKS in Windows 16 and 32-bit ICA clients, ActiveX and plug-in versions, should be ready by the fourth quarter.
