THE INTERNET SERVICE AND NETWORK PROVIDERS OF INTERNET PROTOCOL RESOURCES, LAYER 5
The global Internet is a collection of separate, but interconnected networks, each of which is managed as a single administrative domain called an Autonomous Systems (AS). There are over sixty thousand AS numbers (ASNs) assigned to a wide variety of companies, educational, non- profit and government entities. The AS networks that form the primary transport for the Internet are independently controlled by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), each with its own business policies, internal network topologies, services, and customer profiles.
The binding glue of the Internet is that all AS share a standard Internet Protocol (IP) addressing scheme and global Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing framework that allows all these networks to interconnect with each other directly or indirectly, it’s a routing protocol that the internet would not be able to function without it. ISPs provide transport of Internet traffic on behalf of other ISPs, companies or other non-ISP organizations, and individuals. ISPs are classified into a 3-tier model that categorizes them based on the type of Internet services they provide. The Routing/Pathway Providers of Internet Protocol Resources, Layer 4 carrier (usually Tier 1 & Tier 2) provides transport facilities, telecommunications services and equipment providers and ISP & Network Providers of Internet Protocol Resources, last mile, Layer 5 (usually Tier 3) service provider, which offers some forms of telecommunications, internet and cloud-based hosting and infrastructure service.
The Distributors of Internet Protocol Resources, Layer 3, the Routing/Pathway Providers of Internet Protocol Resources, Layer 4 and the ISP & Network Providers of Internet Protocol Resources, last mile, Layer 5, are closely aligned with the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC) definition of “the public core of the Internet”, which includes such critical elements of the infrastructure of the Internet as packet routing and forwarding, naming and numbering systems, the cryptographic mechanisms of security and identity, transmission media, software, and data centers.
The most important point to understand in the section is that the Stakeholder of Internet Protocol Resources, Layer 2, the Distributors of Internet Protocol Resources, Layer 3, the Routing/Pathway Providers of Internet Protocol Resources, Layer 4 and ISP & Network Providers of Internet Protocol Resources, last mile, Layer 5 all act together synchronously to provide you access to the internet through your home router or business access gateway.
See the Council to Secure the Digital Economy (CSDE) Description of Infrastructure
See the World Economic Forum (WEF)Cybercrime Prevention Principles for Internet Service Providers
View Trust Zones: A path to a more Secure Internet Infrastructure (Research Article)