Hi Mike,

> What exactly is promiscuous mode? Why does a program such as tcpdump turn
> on promiscuous mode?

The full explanation on that issue is best looked up on sources like this one:
http://wwwinfo.cern.ch/pdp/ose/security/cern/service/promisc.html

The short answer:

Usually Network Interface Cards (NIC) are configured by operating systems to 
listen to only packets directed to them. It is always possible however 
configure them to listen to all packets circulating into the local area 
network (LAN). This configuration is called Promiscuous Mode (PM)

To enable promiscuous mode: /sbin/ifconfig -i eth0 promisc
To disable promiscuous mode: /sbin/ifconfig -i eth0 -promisc

-- 

With best regards,

Michael Stauber
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Unix/Linux Support Engineer
_______________________________________________
cobalt-security mailing list
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://list.cobalt.com/mailman/listinfo/cobalt-security

Reply via email to