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Advanced Wireshark for Threat Hunting and Network Forensics

Name: Advanced Wireshark for Threat Hunting and Network Forensics
Rating: 4.2 (22 reviews)

Network Forensics Threat Hunting Wireshark TShark Packet Analysis TCP/IP Malware C2 SOC Incident Response. Enroll Now.

Role Play

Created byOCSALY Academy | 570.000+ Students

Last updated 11/2025

English

What you'll learn

Master advanced Wireshark filtering to pinpoint Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) from millions of packets
Employ TShark and TCPDump for remote and covert packet acquisition in field forensics.
Analyze complex protocols (DNS, HTTP, TCP) to detect tunneling, data exfiltration, and C2 beacons.
Reconstruct attacker conversations and safely extract malicious payloads for incident response.
Utilize Wireshark's IO Graphs and statistics to quickly identify unknown anomalies and attack patterns.
Perform deep analysis of TCP state transitions to identify connection hijacking and stealth attacks.
Identify and analyze network reconnaissance, including stealthy port scans and mapping attacker intent.
Apply the forensic mindset to maintain evidence integrity from capture through final report generation.
Configure custom Wireshark profiles and coloring rules for efficient hunting and evidence triage.
Differentiate between normal traffic and subtle malicious patterns like DNS exfiltration (DGA).

Course content

9 sections • 34 lectures • 7h 10m total length

Advanced Wireshark for Hunting: From Wall of Text to Smashing the C2 Channe16:58
Master advanced Wireshark for threat hunting and forensics by turning packet data into stories, using surgical filters, TCP stream reconstruction, and extracting malicious files, detecting C2 beacons and DNS tunneling.

Wireshark's Role in Modern Threat Hunting and Defensive Security9:56
Explore how Wireshark enables ethical hacking, threat hunting, and network forensics by analyzing protocols, OSI and TCP/IP models, and routing and switching.
Advanced OSI Model:Analysis of Layer Evasion and Protocol Anomalies for Forensis31:53
Explore the OSI model's seven layers, encapsulation, and PDUs, and examine application, transport, network, data link, and physical layer protocols to detect layer evasion and protocol anomalies.

Forensic Capture: Methodologies and Ethical Considerations for Packet Analysis6:05
Learn to diagnose real-world network issues through packet analysis, moving from raw data collection in promiscuous mode to in-depth analysis with Wireshark, Tcpdump, and OmniPeek.
Evasion & Capture: Analyzing TAPs, SPANs, and Routers for Threat Hunting5:45
Analyze hubs, switches, and routers, from hub broadcasting in half duplex to switch-based direct delivery, and note CAM tables, MAC addresses, and IP addresses guiding traffic.
Identifying Anomalies: Baseline Traffic vs. Malicious Pattern Recognition4:56
Explore broadcast, unicast, and multicast traffic, and how broadcast domains use routers and switches to control reach and efficiency of data delivery.

Advanced Packet Analysis Workflow: From Acquisition to Evidence Reporting6:10
Master packet sniffer placement and promiscuous mode to capture all traffic with Wireshark, enabling analysis from acquisition to evidence reporting.
Tactical Evasion and Capture: Bypassing Switched Networks for Forensics3:53
Explore how sniffing on hub-based networks provides near limitless visibility by broadcasting traffic to all ports, and contrast switches that prevent collisions while identifying hub environments for forensics.
Ethical and Covert Network Interception: Advanced Sniffing Techniques13:02
Learn ethical and covert network interception on switched networks using port mirroring, hubs, and network taps, with aggregated or non-aggregated taps to capture traffic.

Why Wireshark is Essential for Threat Hunters and Forensic Analysts4:11
Discover how Wireshark empowers threat hunters and forensic analysts with over 1000 protocols, a user-friendly GUI, and open source, free access for all environments.
Setting Up Wireshark for Advanced Capture and Multi-Platform Analysis7:41
Learn to set up Wireshark for advanced capture and multi-platform analysis by installing Wireshark with WinPcap or LibPcap, enabling Npcap and USBPcap, and following guided installation steps.
Configuring Wireshark & TShark for Linux Forensics and Automation11:13
Configure Wireshark and tshark on Linux across distributions, enabling non-root packet capture for forensics, with interface selection, troubleshooting, and optional tools like tcpdump and nmap.
Choosing and Configuring Adapters for Advanced Wireless Packet Capture9:38
Learn to choose and configure external wireless adapters on Linux for advanced wireless packet capture with Wireshark, leveraging monitor mode, broader protocol support, and traffic isolation.
Customizing Wireshark Profiles for Efficient Hunting and Forensics12:28
Customize Wireshark with six preference groups, including appearance, capture, protocols, and advanced options; use coloring rules to highlight traffic and create configuration profiles for troubleshooting, latency analysis, and security investigations.

Forensic Workflow: Saving, Merging, and Sanitizing Packet Evidence9:58
Save, export, and merge capture files to build a complete forensic view of network activity. Learn to filter, display time formats, and arrange packets chronologically for efficient analysis across devices.
Advanced Filtering: Introduction to Hunting with Display Filters18:11
Master display filtering in Wireshark to hunt for specific packets, using display filter, text, hex, and string searches; mark, print, and apply time display formats, time referencing, and time shifting.
Critical Capture Options for Complete Forensic Data Acquisition8:36
Master how Wireshark capture options control exactly what data is recorded, including input interfaces, promiscuous mode, buffer size, and output file formats.
Tactical Capture Filters: Targeting Malicious Traffic at the Source14:21
Master capture and display filters in Wireshark to isolate traffic, focus on port 80 and specific hosts or devices, and streamline threat hunting and network forensics.
Advanced Display Filters: Triage and Pinpointing Indicators of Compromise13:00
Master Wireshark display filters to rapidly isolate packets, using filter expressions or the display filter dialog, and save reusable filters for ongoing threat hunting and network forensics.
Conducting Rapid Incident Triage for Network Intrusion Evidence

Setting up TShark and TCPDump for Remote and Covert Packet Acquisition9:36
Explore Tshark and Tcpdump for remote, headless packet analysis with focused, real-time filtering. Learn cross-platform installation, streaming captures, and saving data for later review in Wireshark.
Leveraging TShark and TCPDump for Unattended Threat Hunting and Analysis13:16
Capture real-time network traffic with tshark and tcpdump, identify IP addresses, ports, and protocols, and save captures to pcap for later analysis.

ARP Analysis: Detecting Poisoning and Host Impersonation11:24
Explore the address resolution protocol (ARP) and how MAC addresses map to IP addresses through ARP requests and responses, broadcast discovery, and ARP tables that enable network communication.
IP Header Forensics: Analyzing IP Fragments and Evasion7:53
Analyze IPv4 header fields, fragmentation, and reassembly to understand routing and addressing across networks; learn netmasks, CIDR notation, and how these details aid traffic troubleshooting.
TTL and Routing Analysis: Tracing Malicious Traffic Origin and Path14:48
Explore TTL and IP fragmentation, and use Wireshark to trace malicious traffic origins and paths by analyzing IPv4 headers, TTL values, and fragmentation across real network packets.
Advanced TCP State Analysis for Connection Hijacking and Triage4:43
Explore tcp and udp at the packet level, detailing tcp’s connection oriented delivery per RFC 793, header fields, and port mechanics to aid network analysis, troubleshooting, and security.
Detecting Anomalies in TCP Flags and Sequence Number Behavior21:03
Explore tcp flag patterns and sequence number behavior in Wireshark through real-world traffic, analyzing the three-way handshake, acknowledgments, window size, and latency to detect anomalies.
UDP Structure and Analysis: Identifying Tunneling and Exfiltration6:51
Explore udp, a fast, connectionless transport with an eight-byte header and four fields—source port, destination port, length, checksum—and its use in dns, dhcp, voip, and streaming for threat hunting.
DNS Forensics: Hunting for DGA, Tunneling, and Exfiltration16:46
Explore dns forensics by analyzing udp traffic in Wireshark, examine domain name system queries and responses on port 53, and track transaction IDs across load-balanced IPv4 addresses.
DHCP Analysis: Detecting Malicious Servers and Host Impersonation48:58
Learn to analyze DHCP traffic end-to-end, from discovery to acknowledgement, and inspect header fields, options, and lease details in Wireshark to detect malicious servers and host impersonation.
HTTP Forensics: Analyzing Headers for C2 and Data Exfiltration4:32
Explore how HTTP methods manage resources and how headers, including general and entity types, communicate content type, encoding, and message details between client and server.
Advanced HTTP Analysis: Decrypting HTTPS for Threat Hunting31:35
Analyze http traffic via Wireshark to understand http request and response, headers, and get post flows. Explain why https matters for encryption and highlight risks of plain text cookies.

Network Forensics Mindset: Why Packet Data is the Ultimate Truth4:07
Analyze security-focused packet data to uncover attacker footprinting, reconnaissance, exploitation, and persistence signs in network traffic, including scanning for open ports and how intrusion detection systems flag suspicious activity.
Hunting for Scanners: Identifying Failed and Stealthy Reconnaissance Attempts9:51
Explore TCP synchronization scanning with Wireshark and Nmap to identify stealthy reconnaissance, detect when firewalls block or drop packets, and map open, closed, or filtered ports.
Advanced Analysis of Port Scans: Utilizing Wireshark to Map Attacker Intent17:20
Analyze half-open tcp synchronization scans with wireshark in a controlled environment to map attacker intent and identify open, closed, and filtered ports, using nmap scans and wireshark statistics.

Requirements

A computer capable of running Wireshark (Windows, macOS, or Linux).
Basic understanding of TCP/IP and the OSI Model.

Description

The network never lies. In the high-stakes world of 2026 cybersecurity, the packet is the ultimate source of truth.

As threat actors evolve to use stealthier lateral movement and encrypted C2 channels, the modern Security Operations Center (SOC) can no longer rely on automated alerts alone. To protect billion-dollar infrastructures, organizations demand Network Forensic Architects-specialists who can reach into the "wall of text" and extract the precise indicators of a breach. This course is your professional roadmap to moving beyond surface-level security and mastering the deep physics of network communication.

We provide a rigorous, laboratory-grade curriculum designed to transform you into an elite threat hunter. You won't just learn to use a tool; you will develop the Forensic Mindset required to reconstruct complex attack timelines from fragmented data.

The Forensic Architect Roadmap:

Advanced Packet Acquisition: Master the methodologies of covert and tactical interception. Learn to bypass switched network limitations using TAPs, SPAN mirroring, and TShark/TCPDump for unattended field forensics.
Protocol-Level Intelligence: Perform deep-dive analysis into the DNA of network communication. Dissect TCP state transitions, DNS tunneling, and ARP poisoning to identify host impersonation and connection hijacking.
Hunting Stealth C2 Channels: Learn the high-authority skill of identifying command-and-control (C2) patterns. Master HTTP/S forensic analysis and learn to decrypt traffic to expose hidden malicious payloads.
Anomaly Detection & Baselines: Move from reactive to proactive. Develop the ability to distinguish between "noise" and malicious behavior by mastering Behavioral Traffic Classification and Pattern Recognition.
Evidence Triage & Reporting: Learn professional-grade workflows for saving, merging, and sanitizing packet evidence, ensuring your findings are actionable for incident response teams and legal discovery.

The Ocsaly Authority Standard

Join a community of over 500,000 students who trust our TTP (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) labs to stay ahead of the global threat landscape. This isn't just another security course; it is an intensive training program for those who want to command the highest levels of the cybersecurity industry.

The truth is in the packets. Find it today.

Enroll now.

Who this course is for:

Security Analysts and Incident Responders needing advanced hunting skills.
Network Engineers pivoting into cybersecurity and forensics.
Ethical Hackers and Pentesters who want deep network visibility.

Advanced Wireshark for Threat Hunting and Network Forensics

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction : The Forensic Mindset and Advanced Wireshark Hook1 lecture • 17min

Deep Dive into Network Communication Architectures and Evasion Techniques2 lectures • 42min

Foundational Principles of Advanced Packet Acquisition and Network Forensics3 lectures • 17min

Advanced Capture Techniques and Analysis Methodologies3 lectures • 23min

Advanced Wireshark Environment Setup and Configuration5 lectures • 45min

Advanced Capture Management and Filtering for Evidence Triage6 lectures • 1hr 4min

Command-Line Acquisition: TShark and TCPDump for Field Forensics2 lectures • 23min

Advanced Protocol Analysis for Malicious Activity Detection10 lectures • 2hr 49min

Threat Hunting: Identifying and Analyzing Network Reconnaissance3 lectures • 31min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: