Network Packet Analysis and some tools - Wireshark, TCPdump, ettercap, Cain & Abel, Carnivore

Network Packet Analysis: What is it and some tools - Wireshark, TCPdump, ettercap, Cain and Abel, Carnivore, Nurusinsight, dSniff, Network Monitor

Packet Analysis:
A process by which one can analyze network packets to review packet characteristics, encapsulation and flow.
Packet analysis can be in two modes:
Live mode - real time packet capture and analysis
Analysis of per-captured packet

sniffers:
Cain and Abel - effective tools for cracking passwords; can sniff the network to voice-over IP conversations and uncovering cached passwords; optimized for Windows use

Wireshark - Probably most well known tool for packet capture today. Open source and free.