05-08-2009, 05:26 PM
A packet sniffer, the network analyzer, is a wire-tap device that plugs into computer networks and eavesdrops on the network traffic. To capture the information going over the network is called sniffing. It is a "sniffing" program that lets someone listen in on computer conversations. However, computer conversations consist of apparently random binary data. Therefore, network wiretap programs also come with a feature known as "protocol analysis", which allow them to "decode" the computer traffic and make sense of it. These tools known as network sniffers are named after a product called the Sniffer Network Analyzer.
