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METHOD TO MONITOR THE TRANSFER OF

PACKETS: PACKET SNIFFER
Abstract:
Packet sniffing is a technique of monitoring every packet that crosses the network. A packet
sniffer is a piece of software or hardware that monitors all network traffic. The security threat
presented by sniffers is their ability to capture all incoming and outgoing traffic, including
clear-text passwords and usernames or other sensitive material. While packet sniffers can be
fully passive, some aren’t, therefore they can be detected. This paper also discusses the
different methods that Anti-Sniff uses to detect these sniffing programs. A packet sniffer is a
tool that plugs into a computer network and monitors all network traffic. It monitors traffic
destined to itself as well as to all other hosts on the network. And it shows the memory status
of the system. This application can show the status of the LAN graphically like pie chat graph
and line graph etc. and this application can show the network layer protocol ratio, transport
layer protocol ratio, application layer protocol ratio and can also show the free memory of the
system.

Packet sniffing is also the process of capturing

network traffic and inspecting it closely to determine what is happening on the network. A
sniffer analyzes the data packets of common protocols and displays the network traffic in
human-readable format. A packet sniffer can also be used on the Internet to capture data
traveling between computers. Internet packets often have very long distances to travel,
passing through several routers that act like intermediate post offices. A packet sniffer might
be installed at any point along the way. It could also be clandestinely installed on a server that
acts as a gateway or collects vital personal information.

Disadvantage:

Packet sniffers may also peep into the data being transferred in/over a network.

Means to overcome them:

The following techniques and tools can be used to mitigate sniffers:

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1. Authentication— using strong authentication, such as one-time passwords, is a first option

for defence against packet sniffers.

2. Switched infrastructure— deploy a switched infrastructure to counter the use of packet

sniffers in your environment.

3. Anti-sniffer tools— use these tools to employ software and hardware designed to detect the
use of sniffers on a network.

4. Cryptography— the most effective method for countering packet sniffers does not prevent
or detect packet sniffers, but rather renders them irrelevant.

Objective:

The main objective of a packet sniffer (a device or a program) is to trace out all the incoming
and outgoing packets in a network, be it in a Shared Ethernet or in a Switched Ethernet.
The packet sniffer will capture data that is addressed to other machines, saving it for later
analysis.

Existing System:
The existing system also traces the “transfer”, but can provide only less information
regarding the protocols, layers and the memory. It may not be able to give you an idea about
the used and the unused or the free memory in complete detail.

Proposed System:
The proposed system is able to provide the information of packets, memory, 12protocols and
3layers (network, transport and application), as these are considered the most required or the
essential ones.

It also illustrates and represents them in different graphical/pictorial forms as in tree graphs,
pie-charts etc.

Problem Definition:

A packet sniffer is a tool that plugs into a computer network and monitors all network traffic
and monitors traffic destined to itself as well as to all other hosts on the network and also
shows the memory status of the system.

Problem Scope:

Since a packet sniffer is used to trace out the packets transfer over a network, the network
administrator, who works with that tool, can have an idea of the network traffic and can work

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accordingly. Without having an absolute or a proper idea the administrator may even face
problems in managing the traffic which may also give rise to small-severe problems.

The following can be told as some of the reasons or trends that affect security.

1. Increase of network attacks

2. Increased dependence on the network

3. Lack of trained personnel

4. Lack of awareness

5. Lack of security policies

All the information that travels across a network is sent in "packets." For example, when an
email is sent from one computer to another, it is first broken up into smaller segments. Each
segment has the destination address attached, the source address, and other information such
as the number of packets and reassembly order. Once they arrive at the destination, the
packet's headers and footers are stripped away, and the packets reconstituted.

A packet sniffer gives meta-data and sometimes it may also be used in a wrong manner.

Software Requirements: Operating system (windows etc.)

Java compiler, JVM

Hardware Requirements: 5GB HDD

256MB RAM

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