A packet sniffer is a software that can block and analyse traffic passing through a network or subnetwork As data stream flow across the network, the sniffer captures each packet and eventually decodes and analyzes its content according to the appropriate RFC or other specifications.Here we bring you a list of the most popular sniffers used for network analysis.Here are first four tools are mainly meant for Linux Network security , while Cain and Abel is a windows only version.
1.Nmap
works on linux,windows,solaris and bsd.Nmap is a “Network Mapper”, used to discover computers and services on a computer network, thus creating a “map” of the network. Just like many simple port scanners, Nmap is capable of discovering passive services on a network despite the fact that such services aren’t advertising themselves with a service discovery protocol. In addition Nmap may be able to determine various details about the remote computers like operating system,firewall,details about lan card etc.
2.Wireshark
Wireshark is a open source network protocol analyzer for both Unix and Windows.it is also known as Ethereal until a trademark dispute in Summer 2006 You can interactively browse the capture data, delving down into just the level of packet detail you need. Wireshark has several powerful features, including a suprb display filter language and the ability to view the reconstructed stream of a TCP session. It also supports thousands of protocols and media types. A tcpdump-like console version named tethereal is included. problem with wireshark is that it itself has many exploitable security loopholes
3.Tcpdump
Tcpdump was the most popular sniffer before the Wireshark came into market.Eventhough it has no good graphical interface it has less security holes and so more efficient than wireshark It also requires less system resources. While it doesn’t receive new features often, it is actively maintained to fix bugs and portability problems. It is great for tracking down network problems or monitoring activity.
4.Dsiff
it is actually a suite of networking tools like dsniff, filesnarf, mailsnarf, msgsnarf, urlsnarf, and webspy.Excelent for password sniffing and man in middle attack.
5.Cain and Abel
It is a windows only tool for a variety of network testing tasks.It can recover passwords by sniffing the network, crack encrypted passwords using rainbow Dictionary, Brute-Force and Cryptanalysis attacks, recording VoIP conversations, decoding scrambled passwords, decrypting password boxes, uncovering cached passwords and analyzing routing protocols.it has a good GUI interface
