Capturing and Analyzing TCP Traffic with Wireshark

Introduction

In this assignment, I will explore the process of capturing TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) traffic using Wireshark, a popular network protocol analyzer. This exercise will provide me with practical experience in analyzing network traffic.

Steps to Capture and Analyze TCP Traffic In Wireshark, I selected the network interface I wanted to capture traffic from. I typically chose the interface that connects to the network I wanted to monitor. Then, I clicked the "Start" button to begin capturing traffic.

I opened a new terminal window and used Netcat to create a TCP connection to a remote host and port.

In the terminal where I initiated the Netcat connection, I typed and sent data. I knew that this data would be captured by Wireshark.

In Wireshark, I saw the captured TCP traffic. To inspect the payload, I selected a packet and looked at the "Packet Bytes" and "Packet Details" panes. I also right-clicked on a packet and chose "Follow" > "TCP Stream" to see the entire stream of data.

In this assignment, I successfully captured and analyzed TCP traffic using Wireshark. I learned how to initiate a TCP connection, send data, and capture network traffic.