dSniff is a packet sniffer and set of traffic analysis tools written by Dug Song, a computer security researcher at the University of Michigan. Unlike tcpdump and other low-level packet sniffers, dSniff also inclues tools that decode information sent across the network, rather than simply capturing and printing the raw data. The name dSniff refers both to the package of such tools and one eponymous tool ( dSniff ) included within. dSniff the tool decodes passwords sent in cleartext across an Network switch Ethernet network. Song s webpage explains that he released this tool for sysadmins to audit their own networks, although it could easily be used by miscreants to steal passwords.

Other tools included with the package include sshmitm , a program designed to intercept Secure shell version 1 communications with a Man in the middle attack, msgsnarf , a program designed to intercept AOL Instant Messenger conversations, and macof , a program designed to break poorly-designed Network switches by flooding them with packets with bogus MAC addresses.

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