Sniffers — The whole story
Jon David · Network Security · 1996
Early in 1994 the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) based at Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania issued a warning to the effect that systems throughout the Internet had been compromised, and tens of thousands of users had had their access information captured by intruders. While CERT referred to “a network monitoring tool” as the mechanism effecting the reported security breach, these devices are more commonly known as ‘sniffers’. With all of the publicity engendered by the CERT announcement, sniffers (whatever they were; this was never clearly defined) became almost universally viewed as devices of evil, and the use of sniffers was similarly associated with evil intent.