Network Analyzer

A network analyzer -- also called a network protocol analyzer or packet analyzer - is a software application, dedicated appliance or feature set within a network component used in network performance troubleshooting or to enhance protection against malicious activity within a corporate network. Network analyzers can: provide detailed packet capture data that specifies who specific devices are communicating with - source and destination - and which protocol or port is being used; identify devices or parts of the network that are causing traffic flow bottlenecks; detect unusual levels of network traffic, detect unusual packet characteristics; monitor traffic to identify suspicious data communications or malware, configure alarm triggers and alerts for defined threats, search for specific data strings in unencrypted packet payloads; monitor bandwidth utilization as a function of time; create application-specific plugins; and display all statistics on a user-friendly control panel.