📡 TECHNICAL DEEP DIVE • NETWORK FORENSICS

How to Use Wireshark for Network Analysis and Threat Detection

By CyberDudeBivash • October 08, 2025 • Defender’s Guide

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How-To Guide: Table of Contents

Wireshark is the world’s foremost network protocol analyzer. It is the “microscope” that allows you to see the invisible data flowing across your network. For any serious security professional, network engineer, or system administrator, mastering Wireshark is not just a useful skill; it is a fundamental requirement. This guide will provide a quick-start on how to leverage this powerful tool for both network troubleshooting and threat detection.

Chapter 1: The Core Skill — Mastering Display Filters

A raw network capture can contain millions of packets. The most critical skill in Wireshark is using **display filters** to find the specific conversation you’re looking for. Here are five of the most essential filters you need to know:

`ip.addr == 1.1.1.1` – Shows all traffic to or from the specified IP address.
`tcp.port == 443` – Shows all TCP traffic on a specific port (in this case, HTTPS).
`dns` – Shows only DNS traffic, perfect for seeing what domains your computer is trying to resolve.
`http.request` – Shows only HTTP GET/POST requests, useful for analyzing unencrypted web traffic.
`arp` – Shows only ARP traffic, useful for troubleshooting local network connectivity issues.

Chapter 2: Use Case #1 (Network Analysis) — Finding the “Noisy Neighbor”

The Problem: Your network is slow, and you suspect one machine is hogging all the bandwidth.

The Hunt:

Start a capture in Wireshark.
Let it run for a few minutes to gather a baseline of traffic.
Go to **Statistics > Endpoints**. In the window that opens, click on the **”Packets”** or **”Bytes”** column to sort the list.
The IP address at the top of the list is your “noisy neighbor”—the machine that is sending or receiving the most traffic on that network segment. You can now begin a more focused investigation on that specific device.

Chapter 3: Use Case #2 (Threat Detection) — Spotting Malware C2 Beaconing

The Problem: You suspect a machine on your network has been infected with malware.

The Hunt:

One of the most common TTPs for malware is **C2 beaconing**, where the infected machine calls out to the attacker’s command-and-control server at a regular interval. This behavior is easy to spot in Wireshark.

Start a capture.
In the display filter bar, enter `ip.addr == [IP_of_suspect_machine]`.
Let the capture run and observe the traffic. Look for a pattern of repeated, periodic connections to the same external IP address. For example, a TCP connection on a strange port every 60 seconds, or a DNS request for a bizarre-looking domain every five minutes.

This consistent, machine-like pattern is a high-confidence indicator of a C2 channel and a sign of active compromise that requires immediate incident response. This is a foundational technique in any **threat hunting** investigation.

Chapter 4: The Strategic Takeaway — From Packets to Intelligence

Wireshark is an indispensable “scalpel” for deep-dive, surgical analysis of network traffic. However, it is not a scalable solution for enterprise-wide monitoring. A CISO cannot have an analyst watching packet captures on every server. This is where the strategy must evolve from manual packet analysis to automated, large-scale threat detection.

A modern **eXtended Detection and Response (XDR)** platform is the “security camera” for your entire enterprise. It automatically ingests and analyzes network telemetry, endpoint process data, and log files at a massive scale. It uses its own AI and machine learning models to perform the same kind of analysis you just did in Wireshark, but it does it for thousands of endpoints simultaneously, automatically surfacing the high-confidence indicators of an attack.

Scale Your Defense: Mastering Wireshark is a critical skill. Leading a modern SOC requires the right tools. A platform like **Kaspersky’s XDR** provides the automated, enterprise-wide visibility needed to turn raw data into actionable intelligence.

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About the Author

CyberDudeBivash is a cybersecurity strategist with 15+ years in network forensics, incident response, and SOC operations. [Last Updated: October 08, 2025]

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