Nt1310 Unit 1 Network Analysis Paper

Words: 544
Pages: 3

Gathering information about a network is of utmost importance in the realms of cybersecurity, network administration, and digital forensics. This task entails the acquisition of data pertaining to a network's setup, traffic, and operations in order to oversee its health, enhance performance, detect irregularities, and investigate security breaches. Network configuration and state data encompass valuable insights into how a network is structured and functions under normal circumstances. Key aspects include the network topology, which reveals the network's layout, including devices, subnets, and connectivity paths. Additionally, details about the configurations of routers, switches, firewalls, and other network devices are essential. Routing tables, which …show more content…
Packet capture involves collecting these packets for analysis, including examining source and destination addresses, protocols used, and payload data. NetFlow data provides a more abstract view of network traffic by summarizing packet information into flows, which represent the stream of packets between two endpoints. It includes details such as IP addresses, ports, protocols, and the amount of data transferred. The analysis of bandwidth usage provides information on the volume of data being transmitted over the network, aiding in the identification of bottlenecks or unusual traffic volumes that may suggest a distributed denial-of-service attack. These steps are crucial for monitoring performance, troubleshooting network issues, and detecting security threats such as malware communication and data exfiltration. Logs from various network devices and services serve as a record of events that have occurred within the network. System logs generated by network devices provide details about events such as system startup, shutdowns, errors, and configuration