Panix is the third-oldest ISP in the world after NetCom and the World. Originally running on A/UX on an Apple Macintosh IIfx, Panix has gone through a number of transitions as the Internet has grown. It maintains a vibrant community of shell users and posters to its private panix.* USENET newsgroups. Panix also hosts regular get-togethers for fellow Panixistas in Central Park.
Panix was started as a commercial venture to fill the void created after New York City's primary USENET connected public access system (which was donation supported), The Big Electric Cat, ceased operations. Today, Panix is a full-service provider, offering V-Colo virtual personal servers (VPS), mailboxes and other email services, assorted domain services, web hosting, real and virtual colocation, Internet access (T3s, T1s, SDSL, ADSL, and national dialup), and web programming and network consulting services. Panix also specializes in Unix shell access, from anywhere on the Internet, anywhere in the world.
Panix is a vocal supporter of free speech and uncensored internet access
Network security incidents
Panix was one of the first sites to identify the 1996 SYN flood Denial of service .
In 2005, the "panix.com" domain name was hijacked over a (US) long holiday weekend.