Layer 8

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Layer in the OSI model

title: "Layer 8" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["network-architecture", "computer-humour"] description: "Layer in the OSI model" topic_path: "technology/networking" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layer_8" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Layer in the OSI model ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/OSI_user_layers.png"] ::

Layer 8 is a term used to refer to user or political layer on top of the 7-layer OSI model of computer networking. | last = Gregg | first = Michael | title = OSI: Securing the Stack, Layer 8 – Social engineering and security policy | journal = TechTarget | date = 2007-05-01 | url = https://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/tip/OSI-Securing-the-Stack-Layer-8-Social-engineering-and-security-policy |url-access=registration | url=http://www.ncsu.edu/it/cmptplans/layer8/ | title=The Layer 8* Initiative | date=2005-01-05 | publisher=North Carolina State University, Information Technology Division | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200727/http://www.ncsu.edu/it/cmptplans/layer8/ | archivedate=2013-10-29 | url-status=dead | accessdate=2018-05-10}}

The OSI model is a 7-layer abstract model that describes an architecture of data communications for networked computers. The layers build upon each other, allowing for the abstraction of specific functions in each one. The top (7th) layer is the Application Layer describing methods and protocols of software applications. It is then held that the user is the 8th layer.

Layers, defined

According to Bruce Schneier and RSA:

  • Layer 8: The individual person.
  • Layer 9: The organization.
  • Layer 10: Government or legal compliance{{cite web | url=http://blogs.rsa.com/engineering-security-solutions-at-layer-8-and-above/ | title=Engineering Security Solutions at Layer 8 and Above | date=2010-12-07 | first=Ian | last=Farquhar | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524214239/http://blogs.rsa.com/engineering-security-solutions-at-layer-8-and-above/ | archivedate=2013-05-24 | url-status=dead | accessdate=2018-05-10}}

Network World readers humorously report:

  • Layer 8: Money - Provides network corruption by inspiring increased interference from the upper layer.
  • Layer 9: Politics - Consists of technically ignorant management that negatively impacts network performance and development.

and:

  • Layer 9: Politics. "Where the most difficult problems live."
  • Layer 8: The user factor. "It turned out to be another Layer-8 problem."
  • 7 to 1: The usual OSI layers
  • Layer 0: Funding. "Because we should always start troubleshooting from the lowest layer, and nothing can exist before the funding."

Since the OSI layer numbers are commonly used to discuss networking topics, a troubleshooter may describe an issue caused by a user to be a layer 8 issue, similar to the PEBKAC acronym, the ID-Ten-T Error and also PICNIC.{{cite web | url=http://www.apposite-tech.com/blog/osi/layer-8/ | title=Layer 8 Performance Issues | publisher=Apposite Tech | date=2017-10-30 | accessdate=2018-05-10}}

Political economic theory{{Citation | last = Mosco | first = Vincent | author-link = Vincent Mosco | title = The Political Economy of Communication: Rethinking and Renewal | publisher = SAGE Publications, Inc | year = 1996 | isbn = 0-8039-8560-6 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/politicaleconomy00mosc

An 8th layer has also been referenced to physical (real-world) controllers containing an external hardware device which interacts with an OSI model network. An example of this is ALI in Profibus.

A network guru T-shirt from the 1980s shows Layer 8 as the "financial" layer, and Layer 9 as the "political" layer. The design was credited to Evi Nemeth.

Similar pseudo-layers for TCP/IP

In the TCP/IP model, the four-layer model of the Internet, a fifth layer is sometimes analogously described as the political layer, and the sixth as the religious layer. This appears in a humorous April Fools' Day RFC, , published in 1998.

Other uses

  • Linux Gazette carries a regular column called Layer 8 Linux Security.{{cite magazine | url=https://linuxgazette.net/164/kachold.html | title=Layer 8 Linux Security: OPSEC for Linux Common Users, Developers and Systems Administrators | first=Lisa | last=Kachold | issue=164 | magazine=Linux Gazette | date=July 2009}}
  • Layers 8, 9, and 10 are sometimes used to represent individuals, organizations, and governments for the user layer of service-oriented architectures. See OSI User Layers figure for details.
  • User-in-the-loop is a serious concept including Layer 8 as a system-level model

References

References

  1. Wexler, Steve Taylor and Joanie. (2003-02-13). "Mailbag: OSI Layer 8 - money and politics".
  2. (2015-01-14). "ISC 9-Layer OSI Model Cotton T-Shirt". [[Internet Systems Consortium.
  3. {{IETF RFC. 2321

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