PacketSaver

Description

This tool monitors network traffic and shows it on the screen as rectangles that fly from one side of the screen to the other. The direction, speed, size, and color are all dependent on packet attributes.

I have always been drawn toward visualizations, whether they be for music or for arbitrary data. Network traffic is a great source of data which not only looks nice visualized, but is meaningful as well. A port scan, torrent, image, or DDoS will all look unique and distinguishable when visualized.

Downloads

win32 binary : here
source: here

How to use

WinPcap will need to be installed. I use the beta version of the driver. You can edit config.txt to change a lot of the default attributes including screen resolution. Run ssaver.exe, select your network interface from the 'device' dropdown list, then hit apply. You should see delicious packets fly across the screen!

Controls

F1 - bring up options menu
T - toggle packet numbers on/off
R - toggle random packet paths on/off. default is on
I - toggle between incoming, outgoing, and both traffic

Screenshots