Introduction to Wireshark
Wireshark is a strong networking tool used for traffic analysis over any network. Wireshark is free of cost software that is mostly used by any security professional or admins. Since it is less expensive, it is used for troubleshooting in real life and tries to resolve debugging issues related to the network. Wireshark is mostly used to narrow down the network traffic-related issues, latency issues and making a conclusion for getting the actual root cause. This tool needs to be operated by a user having knowledge of all networking concepts.
Use of Wireshark in Various Areas
Wireshark, a network analyser, is used as a network analyser to capture packets over a network connection like office internet or home network. The single unit present in the ethernet network is known as a Packet. Wireshark has mostly used packet analyser used for major functions like packet capturing, visualization, and filtering. Thus, Wireshark has many uses in varied fields, whether related to networking or network security.
Following areas are available for Wireshark:
- Usage by network security engineers
- Usage by network engineers
- Usage by cyber security officials
- Usage for analysis of network protocols
- Usage in terms of internet and its working for transfer on other systems
- Usage in terms of network performance and feasibility an environment
- Usage by system admins
1. Usage by network security engineers
Network security engineers are in continuous usage with Wireshark in terms of a network as each network deals with packets as a single discrete unit for transmission. It also makes use of the Ethernet layer as it lies in TCP/IP protocol stack for its major working and functioning. Network security engineers keep a constant check over the network to resolve all the security-related issues.
They try to check whether or not any types of sniffing or spoofing activities are going on over the network. There are certain malformed packets that exist within the network or might have intentionally created by the intruders; then, in that case, it is very much needed to apply the color coding technique. Still, it needs to improvise in this situation as it does not provide actual alerts for alarming as an alert.
2. Usage by network engineers
Unlike network security engineers, whose major concern is related to the security aspect of a network to keep a check on the intrusion activities, network engineers mainly deal with the troubleshooting and latency aspects of the network using the Wireshark tool. This transfer is also related to some of the other ways with a transfer of the packets from source to destination. The Performance issues or any kind of troubleshooting related to the network in the infrastructure or the TCP/IP stack works and makes use of Wireshark religiously.
3. Usage by cyber security officials
All the major Cybersecurity-related institutes or organisations depend greatly on this network analysis tool. It helps check the cyber crimes and the intrusion or sniffing activities being performed over the network and fool the end-user somewhat like the network security engineers.
Cybersecurity and network experts use this Wireshark as it has many security level protocols working in the background to make the entire processing of network analysis more reliable in terms of security and threat. Sometimes using Wireshark by Cybersecurity cannot provide appropriate results in deciphering the cyber key as it does not gel well with decryption with respect to encrypted traffic.
4. Usage for analysis of network protocols
Although Wireshark has some inbuild protocols that are reliable and smart enough to perform the majority of network tasks, if some issue arises within the system related to a network, then troubleshooting the system with issues using network protocols like TCP, UDP, ICMP and DHCP make the entire network more flexible and enhanced. Even in terms of bandwidth and latency, these protocols, in some or the other way, make the most use of it.
Wireshark also has the ability to provide figures and charts related to the network showing all the attributes and charts related to performance and analysis. The spoofing of IPV4 packets is quite easy when using Wireshark; thus, it is very much important to keep in mind the particular IP address being captured is actual or not. Both the System admin, i.e. IT team and network engineers, should have a thorough understanding of the concepts of networking as well as command over the Wireshark tool as it will be an add on.
5. Usage in terms of internet and its working for transfer on other systems
Wireshark alone cannot withstand and take all the traffic from other systems; rather, in modern computers, it uses networks that further uses a device like switches that can only sense the traffic between the remote system and local system simultaneously. They communicate with each other with the set of protocols mentioned earlier.
6. Usage in terms of network performance and feasibility in an environment
Wireshark gives a perfect overview of a network using reporting and analysis tool or plugin as part of the software. It helps determine the overall performance and latency, which either exists in the created network or is present in the original network where the transfer of packets is taking place explicitly in and out in the network.
7. Usage by system admins
System admins as part of the network team in organizations also play a major link with the network engineers for setting up environments by arranging and synchronizing the hardware and network with the indulgence of Wireshark as obvious for network analysis of the environment after set up. System admins with network engineers can perform the pair programming for solving the issues caused so far.
Conclusion
The use of Wireshark is numerous, ranging from its flexibility to versatility on the network analysis aspect. Each packet as part of a network is sensed by the tool and helps the network professionals in various ways to tackle and troubleshoot the relevant issues easily. Wireshark has many advantages for network security and cybersecurity professionals and simultaneously increases its wave in every other domain related to the network.
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