[Term of the Day]: Network Sniffing
Term of the Day
"Network Sniffing"
What is Network Sniffing?
Network sniffers, also known as network analyzers, is a passive technique that monitors network communication, decodes protocols, and examines headers and payloads for information of interest.
When any data has to be transmitted over the computer network, network sniffers intercept and read the message headers of data packets, giving administrators details about the addresses of senders and receivers, file sizes and other low-level information about those packets, besides verifying transmission.
Network sniffing can be used in both ethical and illegal ways. It is a simple way for both hackers to steal information as well as for organizations to monitor for illicit activity.
For example, developers often check the network in order to confirm the information they are sending is being received accurately and that there aren't any problems. If there are, examining the network can help with troubleshooting and fixing.
Illegal usage can span from simple information gathering to pretending to be a valid site or service to impersonate as a user.