Wireshark - Packet Analyzer

Wireshark is a widely used network protocol analyzer that captures and inspects traffic in granular detail, packet by packet.

How Wireshark Works

Wireshark captures raw network traffic passing through a chosen interface and decodes it according to the relevant protocols, displaying readable details about each packet's headers and payload.

Reading the Interface

The packet list shows a summary of each captured packet, the packet details pane breaks down protocol layers, and the bytes pane shows the raw hexadecimal data for deep inspection.

Using Display Filters

Filters like http, tcp.port == 443, or ip.addr == 192.168.1.1 let analysts narrow thousands of captured packets down to exactly the traffic relevant to their investigation.

Security Use Cases

Wireshark helps identify suspicious traffic patterns, unencrypted credential transmission, malware command-and-control communication, and unusual protocol behavior during both testing and incident response.