I will be using the program Wireshark do demonstrate packet sniffing. Packet sniffing is the act of capturing packets going through a network. With a packet sniffer, once a hacker gains access to wireless network he could intercept private information going through a network such as: usernames, passwords, IM conversations, and e-mails.
Let's show you an example.
- Download and install Wireshark. (https://www.wireshark.org/download.html)
- Launch it and click on the option to list the available capture interfaces as shown below.
- Next choose the target to begin to capture their packets and click on start.
- If you don't know which one to choose, wait a little bit and the one that accumulates the most packets is your best choice. Many captured packets shows that the user is currently active.
- Now to show you an example of how Wireshark can be used I will start up Windows Live and send a message. As you will see in the image below, my whole conversation will be captured. To filter out all the useless data and to only display the Windows Live related packets type in "msnms" in the filter bar.
- As you can see, my message is displayed at the bottom. If I continue down the list I can see the whole conversation. Usernames and passwords are captured the same way, and if they aren't encrypted, you can see them in plain text.
Enjoy :)