The packet sniffer will capture data that is addressed to other machines, saving it for later analysis.Īll information that travels across a network is sent in ' packets.' For example, when an email is sent from one computer to another, it is first broken up into smaller segments. One disturbingly powerful aspect of packet sniffers is their ability to place the hosting machine's network adapter into 'promiscuous mode.' Network adapters running in promiscuous mode receive not only the data directed to the machine hosting the sniffing software, but also ALL of the traffic on the physically connected local network.Ī packet sniffer is a device or program that allows eavesdropping on traffic traveling between networked computers. packet sniffer s merely watch, display, and log this traffic. By comparison, a firewall sees all of a computer's packet traffic as well, but it has the ability to block and drop any packets that its programming dictates. As data streams travel back and forth over the network, the sniffer captures each packet and eventually decodes and analyzes its content according to the appropriate RFC or other specifications.Ī ' packet sniffer' is a utility that sniffs without modifying the network's packets in any way. A packet sniffer (also known as a network analyzer or protocol analyzer or, for particular types of networks, an Ethernet sniffer or wireless sniffer) is computer software or computer hardware that can intercept and log traffic passing over a digital network or part of a network.

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Network sniffer