Wireshark was originally called Ethereal. Since the commercial programs were either too expensive or didn’t have the correct features, Combs decided to create his own tool to help analyze and improve network traffic. Plus, most commercial tools did not support Solaris and Linux, which were the primary server types used by that ISP. Packet and traffic analyzers existed back in 1998, but most of them cost around $1,500, which was too expensive for his company to buy for him. At the time, he was working for a small Internet Service Provider (ISP) and needed a way to analyze and optimize the traffic being generated by the many tenants of that ISP. The tool was originally created by Gerald Combs in 1998. This makes it a useful tool in threat hunting, with specific packets highlighted in red (or whatever color a user wants) to alert investigators about their presence within the network. Wireshark provides a comprehensive set of rules for coloring packets while also letting users set up their own and modify those defaults.Īt a higher level, Wireshark could be used to find and highlight very specific packets, such as those that match a known attack pattern. For example, voice over IP (VOIP) data could be set to one color in the interface, while encrypted data packets could be designated as another. At a high level, this could help to separate different packet types which would show how a network is being utilized. Wireshark can be set to color-code specific packets based on rules that match particular fields in packets. And the interface itself is configurable. While data about all packets and network traffic is available for later analysis, the graphical user interface enables users to sit back and watch packets flowing through their networks in real time. But the graphical interface is also a big draw, especially for those who are not trained how to use, or who simply don’t like, the command line type interfaces found on many utility programs. The fact that Wireshark is a free and open source program certainly contributes to its legacy as one of the most popular tools of its type being used today. Wireshark is currently on version 3.6.5, and a separate development version, numbered 3.7.0, is currently being worked on by the community. The more popular Wireshark version has a graphical user interface and is designed to be able to be used by people with various skill levels, not just experts or programmers. The TShark utility version uses a command-line type interface with no graphics. ![]() There are two different versions of the tool. Output can also be exported to XML, PostScript, CSV or plain text files. This includes tcpdump (libpcap), Pcap NG, Catapult DCT2000, Cisco Secure IDS iplog, Microsoft Network Monitor, Network General Sniffer (compressed and uncompressed), Sniffer Pro, NetXray, Network Instruments Observer, NetScreen snoop, Novell LANalyzer, RADCOM WAN/LAN Analyzer, Shomiti/Finisar Surveyor, Tektronix K12xx, Visual Networks Visual UpTime, WildPackets, EtherPeek, TokenPeek, AiroPeek and others. ![]() The tool can read, in real-time, data flowing through a network or device using all the common protocols: wired Ethernet, wireless IEEE 802.11, WAN protocol PPP/HDLC, Bluetooth, USB, etc.įor encrypted traffic, Wireshark offers automatic decryption and support for many protocols including IPsec, ISAKMP, Kerberos, SNMPv3, SSL/TLS, WEP and WPA/WPA2.Īs of the most recent version of Wireshark, most capture file formats are also supported so that traffic can be later analyzed. All versions of Wireshark and the source code are fully open source and can be downloaded for free. The source code is also available for those who want to modify Wireshark to run within a unique environment. Wireshark was initially written to run on Solaris and Linux, but now runs on virtually all operating systems including Windows and macOS. Top metrics for multicloud managementĮven without that ability, Wireshark is able to sniff out most packets flowing through a network, no matter the OS, the networking protocol, encryption method or file format. However, doing this normally requires superuser permissions and may be restricted on some networks. The tool allows users to put network interface controllers (NICs) into promiscuous mode to observe most traffic, even unicast traffic, which is not sent to a controller’s MAC address. Wireshark is primarily used to capture packets of data moving through a network. Wireshark can be deployed for a variety of purposes including sniffing out security issues, troubleshooting network performance problems, traffic optimization, or as part of the application development and testing process. Wireshark is a popular, free and open-source packet capture tool that enables network and security administrators to take a “deep dive” analysis into traffic moving through a network.
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