analyzing-network-traffic-with-wireshark

# Analyzing Network Traffic with Wireshark ## When to Use - Investigating suspected network intrusions by examining packet-level evidence of command-and-control traffic, data exfiltration, or lateral movement - Diagnosing network performance issues such as retransmissions, fragmentation, or DNS resolution failures - Analyzing malware communication patterns by capturing traffic from sandboxed or isolated hosts - Validating firewall and IDS rules by confirming what traffic is actually traversing network segments - Extracting files, credentials, or indicators of compromise from captured network sessions **Do not use** to capture traffic on networks without authorization, to intercept private communications without legal authority, or as a substitute for full-featured SIEM platforms in production monitoring. ## Prerequisites - Wireshark 4.0+ and tshark command-line utility installed - Root/sudo privileges or membership in the `wireshark` group for live packet capture - Network interface access (physical NIC, span port, or network tap) to the monitored segment - Sufficient disk space for packet capture files (estimate 1 GB per minute on busy gigabit links) - Familiarity with TCP/IP protocols, HTTP, DNS, TLS, and SMB at the packet level ## Workflow ### Step 1: Configure Capture Environment Set up the capture interface and filters to target relevant traffic: ```bash # List available interfaces tshark -D # Start capture on eth0 with a capture filter to limit scope tshark -i...