Internet Relay Chat

(chat, messaging)

(IRC) /I-R-C/, occasionally /*rk/ A client-server chat system of large (often worldwide) networks. IRC is structured as networks of Internet servers, each accepting connections from client programs, one per user.

The IRC community and the Usenet and MUD communities overlap to some extent, including both hackers and regular folks who have discovered the wonders of computer networks. Some Usenet jargon has been adopted on IRC, as have some conventions such as emoticons. There is also a vigorous native jargon (see the entry for "chat").

The largest and first IRC network is EFNet, with a smaller breakaway network called the Undernet having existed since 1992, and dozens of other networks having appeared (and sometimes disappeared) since.

See also nick, bot, op.

Yahoo's IRC index.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

IRC

(Internet Relay Chat) Computer conferencing on the Internet. There are hundreds of IRC channels on numerous subjects that are hosted on IRC servers around the world. After joining a channel, your messages are broadcast to everyone listening to that channel. IRC client programs, such as mIRC, provide a graphical interface for all functions, including logging into popular servers and obtaining a list of their active channels. See mIRC, netsplit, SOP and AOP.

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References in periodicals archive

It allows a kind of group conversation that e-mail, forums, IM and good old internet relay chat don't encourage.

Make a complete Twit of yourself . . . and reap the benefits

Afloat naval units primarily use mIRC (Internet Relay Chat) on Windows workstations, Microsoft Chat on IT-21, and Zircon chat on the Global Command and Control System-Maritime (GCCSM) as tactical chat tools behind the fleet SIPRNET.

Carrier strike group twelve sponsors fleet/joint/coalition testing of open standards chat tool

Previously Internet Relay Chat has primarily been used to control botnets through a server owned by the criminal or hacker.

Hackers using point-and-click tools

The main synchronous option tools are Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Web radio, Web-based videoconferencing and MOOs.

The Tools of the Web Assisted Foreign Language Instruction

IRC Hacks by Paul Mutton (059600687X, $24.95) covers Internet Relay Chat, a network chat system used by millions to chat with friends.

O'Reilly

For those of you who remember the late 1980s, instant messaging systems began with the early proprietary versions of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), and the public Internet Relay Chat (IRC).

Take control of corporate IM: implement best management practices now!

Sebastopol, CA-IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, may well turn out to be the world's most successful hack.

"IRC Racks": Making the Most of the IRC Experience

In the past, this approach has been used to mount distributed denial-of-service attacks on everything from commercial Web sites to hobbyist Internet Relay Chat networks.

The spam wars: how should the Internet deal with junk mail?

Abstract: In this paper, I first outline major feminist contributions pertinent to computer-mediated communication and related to the unique linguistic factors associated with internet relay chat (IRC) such as communication coherence (issues of turn-taking) and language play (acronyms, screen names, linguistic violations of appropriate speech and gender performances).

"Impossible speech"? Playful chat and feminist linguistic theory

Symantec named the tool Backdoor.IRC.Cirebot, saying it installs a Trojan on a vulnerable machine which then, like many of its predecessors, joins an Internet Relay Chat channel and awaits instructions from its creator.

Worm and Hacking Tool Target Microsoft Software

For example, Internet relay chat (IRC) and I seek you (ICQ) chat are open to all Internet users.

A study on cyberstalking: understanding investigative hurdles