PCAP
Definition
Packet capture file. The standard format for storing captured network frames, originally defined by the libpcap library. Each record contains the raw frame bytes, a timestamp, and the captured length. The newer pcapng format extends this with interface metadata and block annotations.
Related terms
- Artefact carving
- Extracting embedded content from raw data by locating known file signatures (magic bytes) at byte boundaries. In PCAP analysis, this means reassembling...
- Beaconing
- Periodic outbound connections from a compromised host to a command-and-control server, typically at regular intervals. The regularity of the interval, measured in...
- Display filter
- A Wireshark filter expression applied to an already-captured PCAP file to show only packets matching specified criteria. Display filters do not delete...
- Protocol dissector
- A software component in a packet analyser that recognises a specific protocol and parses its header fields into named, readable values. Wireshark...
- Stream reassembly
- The process of collecting all the TCP segments belonging to a single connection and reordering them by sequence number to reconstruct the...
Explained in
- Traffic Analysis and Protocol DissectionPacket capture file. The standard format for storing captured network frames, originally defined by the libpcap library. Each record contains the raw frame byt...