A Martian packet is an IP packet which specifies a source or destination address that is reserved for special-use by Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and cannot actually originate as claimed or be delivered.
Martian packets commonly arise from IP address spoofing in denial-of-service attacks, but can also arise from network equipment malfunction or misconfiguration of a host.
The name is derived from packet from Mars, a place where packets clearly can not originate.
Famous quotes containing the word packet:
“we know our end
A packet of worm-seed, a garden of spent tissues.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)