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References to web sites and documents on the Internet are frequently referenced in our classes. Utilities are also frequently discussed. This page has two sections: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and useful utilities. The following lists are made available for your convenience. Bookmark this page, come back frequently and enjoy. If you would like to see additions to either list, email me at at nickw@lrgnetworks.com and I will see what I can do.
[Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)] [Useful Utilities]Protocol Analyzers |
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| Ethereal | Ethereal is the most popular protocol analyzer because a) it works and b) it is free. If you know your way around protocol analyzers it will do a good job for you. | Download from the Ethereal home page |
| Wincap | Wincap is a packet capture library and is required by Ethereal and WinDump. It is included with the Ethereal installer. | You can also download it from the Wincap site. |
| Packetyzer | Packetyzer is a Windows front end to Ethereal. You may like the way it presents information. | Download from the Packetyzer home page |
| tcpdump | tcpdump is a command line (no GUI) utility for capturing packets in real time and displaying them one line at a time. Although primitive, there are occasions when you don't want all of the information that a protocol analyzer provides and just want a simple way to monitor traffic. The program is very powerful but hard to understand. tcpdump only works with Linux/Unix (but see WinDump next for Windows) and is almost always included with Linux distributions. tcpdump requires libpcap, but that should also be on your Linux distribution. | See this tcpdump page for the latest updates. |
| WinDump | WinDump is the Windows version of tcpdump (see above) and is 100% compatible with it. WinDump requires Wincap to run, as does Ethereal, so you may already have it. | Download from the WinDump home page |
Port Scanners |
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| NetBrute | This port scanner does a good job and it is easy to use and understand. Besides scanning TCP/UDP ports, it really shines when scanning Microsoft networks. It is free. | Download from the NetBrute home page |
Trace Route |
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| HyperTrace | Getting tired of Microsoft's Tracert program included in Windows which you must run from the command prompt? Try this GUI based Trace Route. It is much more convenient, much faster and free. | Go to the HyperTrace home page |
| PingPlotter | PingPlotter is a trace route program which highlights the response times of each leg of the journey graphically. | Go to the PingPlotter download page. Only version 1.x is free. |
Monitor your own computer (NETSTAT) |
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| Active Ports | Tired of Microsoft's command line utility NETSTAT? Active Ports is a graphical NETSTAT showing you which ports are in which state. | Go to the Active Ports information page. It is free. | Show Traffic | This program shows you the connections that your computer is making in real time. Quite an eye opener if you are connected to the Internet. | Go to the Show Traffic download page. |
DNS |
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| Sam Spade | Sam Spade is the champion multifunction tool for DNS inquiries and troubleshooting. It includes Whois, Dig, finds the owner of IP blocks, and so much more. | Go to the Sam Spade information page. It is free. |
Password Recovery Tools |
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| Cain and Abel | This program's main purpose is to recover passwords from Windows systems. However, it also has many interesting extra features. A favourite is ARP poisoning which allows you to sniff packets through a switch. | Go to the Cain and Abel information page. It is free. |
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