Chapter 2: Using Wireshark

Wireshark is a protocol analyzer that can capture traffic and then present it in a human-readable format. In this chapter, you’ll gain an insight into the overall functionality of Wireshark, and we’ll see how to troubleshoot network traffic, monitor for security issues, and debug applications. We’ll begin by taking a look at some of the features of the interface. We’ll also cover where you can find a list of shortcuts, so you can confidently and quickly capture and analyze packets.

So that you can better appreciate the work that goes into Wireshark, we’ll also review a list of the many authors that contribute to this project and help make Wireshark an exceptional tool. We’ll also see where you can find links on the interface that provide helpful information on how to better use Wireshark.

In order to better understand the packet analysis process, we’ll briefly review each of the phases involved: gather...