Sniffing
Sniffing is the process of capturing and analyzing network traffic. Attackers use sniffing to intercept sensitive data, while security professionals use it for monitoring and troubleshooting networks. This challenge will test your knowledge of sniffing techniques in CTFs.
What is Sniffing?
Sniffing is a network monitoring technique used to capture and analyze data packets transmitted over a network. It can be legitimate for network troubleshooting and security analysis.
Malicious for intercepting sensitive information like passwords and credit card details. Attackers use packet sniffers like Wireshark, tcpdump, or specialized hardware to eavesdrop on unencrypted traffic. Sniffing can be passive stealthy monitoring or active manipulating traffic.
Countermeasures include encryption (SSL/TLS, VPNs), using secure protocols (HTTPS, SSH) and network segmentation.
Organizations deploy Intrusion Detection Systems and MAC address filtering to prevent unauthorized sniffing.
Common Tools for Sniffing:
- Wireshark (Graphical network protocol analyzer)
- Tcpdump (Command-line packet capture tool)
- Tshark (CLI version of Wireshark)
- Ettercap (MITM attacks & sniffing)
- MITMf (Man-in-the-middle framework)