A Protocol Analyzer Using a Sockets Based Network Sniffer

A network sniffer based on a socket type of application programming interface is presented in this paper. The proposed system captures and analyzes the network traffic data packets passively without interfering with the network information flow. It extracts and views different valuable detailed information in a human-readable format concerning the monitored network in real-time. The proposed system is conducted through four main modules. Real Time Network Sniffer Module performs main system functions by passively capturing and extracting information from all packets transmitted through the network. Packets Meter Module is responsible for real-time representation of all the transmitted packets in a dynamical graphic meter. Network Statistic Module views and logs detailed information and statistics concerning main network protocols: TCP, UDP, ICMP and IP. Nodes Viewer Module is responsible for scanning and viewing the network nodes in a representative graphical mode. The proposed system has been developed employing Windows Sockets techniques that facilitates processing and dealing with network traffic and packets through its Application Programming Interface (IPC) using visual basic programming environment