Can you describe what packet sniffers are and how they operate?
Packet sniffers or protocol analyzers are tools used by network technicians to diagnose network-related problems. Hackers use packet sniffers for less noble purposes, such as spying on network users' traffic and collecting passwords.
Packet sniffers come in several forms. Some packet sniffers used by network technicians are single-purpose hardware solutions. In contrast, other packet sniffers are software applications that run on standard consumer computers and use the network hardware provided on the host device to perform packet capture and injection tasks.
A packet sniffer—also known as a packet analyzer, protocol analyzer, or network analyzer—is a piece of hardware or software used to monitor network traffic. Sniffers work by examining the streams of data packets that flow between computers on a network, as well as between computers on a network and the larger Internet. These packets are intended for—and addressed to—specific machines, but using a packet sniffer in "promiscuous mode" allows IT professionals, end users, or malicious intruders to examine any packet regardless of destination. Sniffers can be configured in two ways. The first is "unfiltered", which means it captures all possible packets and writes them to the local hard drive for later examination. Another is "filtered" mode, which means that the analyzers will only capture packets that contain specific data elements.
Packet sniffers can be used on both wired and wireless networks - their effectiveness depends on how much they are able to "see" due to network security protocols. In a wired network, sniffers may have access to the packets of every connected computer or may be limited by the location of network switches. In a wireless network, most sniffers can only scan one channel at a time, but using multiple wireless interfaces can extend this capability.
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