In a world full of automated tools, high-level dashboards, and AI-powered insights, it might be tempting to assume that packet analysis - the deep-dive discipline of reading packet captures (pcaps) - has become outdated.
However, for security and network operations leaders, the truth is the opposite: packets remain the definitive source of truth when performance degrades, when an incident needs root cause analysis, or when tools disagree. And yet, most enterprises don’t have a sustainable strategy to support good packet analysis capabilities.
Chris Greer, a packet analysis consultant and trainer who works with several Fortune 500 companies, sees this gap everywhere.
“I think of a strong packet analysis skill set as like being a fireman. Companies usually don’t like to invest in having a fireman sit in the corner…. Until the building is on fire. Packet analysis is a skill that is very critical when network and security problems strike, and you may be the only one in the building with the axe and hose to put it out.”
Your enterprise might have invested in high-end security and monitoring platforms, performance analytics, and AI-driven observability. That’s a good thing. But those tools still rely on one underlying source: the packets themselves.
“I always tell customers: I’m gonna teach you what underpins all those fancy tools you’re using. At the end of the day, it’s packets and logs. That’s it.”
When packets are understood, your team can:
The challenge is simple: few people know how to work with pcaps, and fewer still are training others. A single “packet person” often holds that knowledge in an organization. But that doesn’t scale, and it certainly doesn’t survive turnover.
“I’ve worked with companies where one guy went to SharkFest, learned everything, and became the champion for packet capture. But once he left? Everything fell apart. No one knew what to do with the data anymore.”
There’s no central certification for packet analysis, no well-trodden training path, and little cross-team continuity. That makes global enterprises particularly vulnerable.
“I’ve seen this across Fortune 500s. In networking and security, the gap between the people who can analyze packets and those who can’t is huge. It’s a chasm. You just don’t have the depth anymore, and that’s a real problem.”
This creates a huge opportunity to see a real efficiency increase across an organization’s network and security operations.
You can close the packet analysis skills gap by creating a structured, scalable approach that allows new analysts to ramp up quickly while ensuring that knowledge is retained and shared across teams.
You don’t need every team member to be an expert, but you need a framework where packet analysis is accessible and integrated into everyday workflows.
“One company I worked with, the director was a packet analysis evangelist and made it a key part of their workflow,” Greer recalls. “Now that team is crushing their goals. They’re finding problems faster and knocking it out of the park.”
One of the biggest barriers to widespread packet analysis adoption is inconsistency. If different teams use different tools, or if individual analysts each have their own preferred method for working with pcaps, there is no common ground for learning or standard procedures across the enterprise.
By choosing an enterprise-grade, standardized packet analysis platform, enterprises can:
When everyone works from the same playbook, packet analysis becomes a “team sport” rather than an isolated skill set.
“If I’m a junior analyst coming in, don’t drop me into a wall of packets. Show me the part that matters to my job. Start me in the right place.”
One of the biggest challenges for newcomers is knowing where to start. Packet captures contain massive amounts of raw data; without the proper guidance, it is easy to get lost in the details.
New analysts should not be expected to dissect thousands of packets from scratch manually. Instead, they should have structured workflows that guide them through the process. There are a few things you can do here:
Rather than expecting junior analysts to "figure it out" on their own, organizations should use tools that give context and visualizations that accelerate their ability to work with packet data effectively.
“It’s about accessibility,” Greer says. “If people don’t know where to start, they’ll never get excited about it. But if you show them something familiar - like what a ping actually looks like - they get hooked.”
Closing the skills gap means creating a sustainable knowledge-sharing culture where expertise is passed down rather than siloed in individual minds. Several experts in the field offer training courses on packet capture analysis that you can provide as part of professional development for your team members.
By making packet analysis an integral part of SOC and NOC training programs, enterprises can future-proof their expertise and ensure that critical knowledge is retained even as team members transition in and out of roles.
With the right approach, packet analysis becomes a strength rather than a bottleneck, empowering NOC and SOC teams to detect threats faster, troubleshoot issues more effectively, and build a more resilient security and network operations environment.
This is precisely what CloudShark Enterprise was built for. While traditional tools like Wireshark are essential, they aren’t built for team-wide workflows, secure sharing, or scalable training. CloudShark brings all of that into a centralized, enterprise-grade platform.
“One of the ways I show CloudShark is by clicking into the built-in views from other included tools like Zeek and Suricata, then pivoting to the packets. The experienced people go: ‘No way. You’ve got that in there already?’ Because they know how hard that stuff is to set up manually.”
CloudShark Enterprise enables:
Whether you’re a CISO responsible for breach investigations, a NOC manager racing to meet uptime SLAs, or a SOC director building a repeatable detection and response process, CloudShark Enterprise brings clarity, consistency, and continuity to a discipline that’s too important to ignore.
