Color-coded packet types to spot them easierĪnother way to make sure you correctly monitor the type of packets you want is to apply color schemes for each type of connection, so that the most important ones are the most visible.

Once the capture has begun, you can monitor all the connections and their corresponding details – you also get the chance to create filters to keep an eye on just certain types of connections. If you are using several network cards, Wireshark lets you choose the one for capturing the network traffic. The final step before finalizing the initial configuration is for the setup to check whether you have WinPcap installed on your computer, and to install it if missing. The same advice applies to the extra tools bundled with the setup and to the recommended file associations for trace files found on the PC. Since these utilities are meant to provide a wider range of information about your network traffic and they can be easily disabled, it is advisable to install them alongside Wireshark. When deploying Wireshark on your computer, you can choose the plugins and extensions you want to install, such as the Dissector plugin, Tree Statistics, SNMP MIBs, or the Meta Analysis and Tracing Engine. Such an application is Wireshark and it's free to use. In addition to using a powerful and updated antivirus solution (obligatory for any responsible PC user), you can also use a network analysis tool to identify the malicious packets and block them. If your computer is always connected to the Internet or local network, it's vulnerable to hacker attacks and malware infections.

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