Arkime

Overview

Arkime is a network forensics tool that appears across incident response workflows in this knowledge base. It is referenced as part of higher-level security analysis, investigation, monitoring, or validation activity rather than as an end in itself.

What It Is

Arkime is best understood as a incident-response tool in this knowledge base. Its role is conceptual and system-facing rather than procedural: it gives analysts or defenders a structured way to examine evidence, model system behavior, or reason about security state.

How It Works

Arkime works by turning technical inputs into more interpretable outputs at the system level. Across the source skills, it appears as part of larger analysis, investigation, monitoring, or validation loops rather than as a standalone end state.

Core Concepts

• network forensics
• PCAP analysis
• Wireshark
• Zeek
• traffic analysis
• incident response
• ransomware
• detection
• network security
• defense
• ransomware defense
• implementing

Typical Workflow

• Live Capture (if incident is active):
• tcpdump -i eth0 -w capture.pcap host 10.1.5.42
• tcpdump -i eth0 -w c2_traffic.pcap host 185.220.101.42
• tcpdump -i eth0 -w capture_%Y%m%d%H%M.pcap -C 1000 -W 10
• From Existing Infrastructure:
• Export PCAP from full packet capture appliance (Arkime/Moloch, ExtraHop, Corelight)
• | Kill Chain Phase | Network Indicators | Detection Source |
• |------------------|--------------------|------------------|
• | Initial Access | RDP brute force, VPN credential stuffing, phishing callback | Firewall logs, IDS, proxy logs |
• | C2 Establishment | Cobalt Strike beacons (HTTPS/DNS), Sliver/Brute Ratel callbacks | Zeek SSL/HTTP logs, DNS logs |

Use Cases

• SIEM alerts on anomalous network traffic patterns requiring deeper investigation
• C2 beaconing is suspected and needs confirmation through packet-level analysis
• Data exfiltration volume or destination must be quantified from network evidence
• Lateral movement between systems needs to be traced through network connections
• An IDS/IPS alert requires packet-level validation to confirm or dismiss
• Analyzing only HTTP traffic when C2 is operating over HTTPS without SSL inspection
• Missing DNS tunneling because the data volume per query is small (but total over time is significant)
• Building detection rules for pre-ransomware network activity (the average time from Cobalt Strike deployment to encryption is 17 minutes)
• Monitoring for initial access broker (IAB) indicators that precede ransomware deployment
• Creating SIEM correlation rules that chain multiple precursor events into high-confidence alerts

Limitations

• Output still depends on context, data quality, and surrounding analysis.
• The tool should be interpreted as part of a broader workflow, not as a complete answer by itself.
• Capabilities and visibility vary depending on environment, integrations, and available inputs.

Related Tools

• RITA, Zeek, AC Hunter, And Credentials From PCAP Files, And Long Connections In Zeek Logs, And TLS Connections, DNS, DNS Tunneling

Sources

• analyzing-network-traffic-for-incidents
• detecting-ransomware-precursors-in-network
• implementing-network-traffic-analysis-with-arkime