Port 432: IASD — The Forgotten Assignment

Port 432 is officially assigned to something called IASD. What IASD stands for, what it does, or why it needed a port assignment is lost to time. The only proof it existed is a line in the IANA registry with a contact email at a company called Encore.

No RFC documents it. No protocol specification exists. No implementation can be found. Just a name and a number.

What We Know

Port Number: 432
Protocols: TCP and UDP
Official Service: IASD
Assigned To: Nir Baroz (nbaroz@encore.com)
Status: Officially assigned, functionally abandoned

According to the IANA Service Name and Transport Protocol Port Number Registry, port 432 is assigned to IASD for both TCP and UDP.¹ That's where the trail ends.

The Well-Known Port Range

Port 432 sits in the well-known port range (0-1023), which is reserved for services assigned by IANA. These ports require elevated privileges to bind to on Unix-like systems. Getting a port assigned in this range means someone thought this service was important enough to warrant system-level protection.

Which makes the complete absence of documentation even stranger.

Unofficial Use: Command & Conquer Generals

While IASD left no trace, port 432 found life elsewhere. The 2003 real-time strategy game Command & Conquer Generals has been observed using port 432 for multiplayer gaming traffic.²

The game wasn't aware it was using officially assigned space. The port databases list it. The players configure their routers. The packets flow. None of them know about IASD.

What Happened to IASD?

We can speculate:

• Internal service that never shipped — Someone at Encore developed a service, registered the port, then the project was cancelled
• Proprietary protocol for specific clients — It was used internally or by specific customers and never needed public documentation
• Name change — The service was renamed and the port assignment became orphaned
• Company acquisition or closure — Encore was acquired or closed and the institutional knowledge disappeared

The Internet is full of ghosts like this. Formal assignments that predate the web, registered when documentation practices were different, lost when companies changed hands or engineers moved on.

Security Considerations

If you see traffic on port 432, investigate it:

Check what's listening:

# On Linux/macOS
sudo lsof -i :432
sudo netstat -tulpn | grep :432

# On Windows
netstat -ano | findstr :432

Monitor with tcpdump:

sudo tcpdump -i any port 432

Since port 432 has no active, documented service, anything using it deserves scrutiny. It could be:

• Legitimate software using an available port number
• Command & Conquer Generals or similar games
• Malware using an obscure assignment to avoid detection

Why This Matters

Port 432 represents something important about how the Internet works: formal processes don't guarantee outcomes. Someone followed the rules, got the assignment, and then the service vanished. The registry entry remains because removing it would free the port for reassignment, and there's always a chance someone, somewhere, is still running IASD.

The Internet is built on optimism like this. We keep the records. We honor the assignments. We assume the service might still matter to someone.

Even when all evidence suggests it doesn't.

Related Ports

• Port 443 — HTTPS, the most important well-known port still in active use
• Port 22 — SSH, another well-known port with complete documentation
• Unassigned well-known ports — Many ports in the 0-1023 range remain unassigned, waiting for services important enough to warrant them