Final Answer:
The statement that is not true regarding the use of a packet sniffer is: "3) It can only intercept encrypted data."
Step-by-step explanation:
Packet sniffers are tools used to capture and analyze network traffic, aiding in troubleshooting network issues and monitoring network security. However, they do not exclusively intercept encrypted data. In fact, packet sniffers can intercept and analyze both encrypted and unencrypted data. These tools capture packets passing through a network interface, allowing the examination of their contents, regardless of whether the data is encrypted or not.
Packet sniffers operate at the data-link layer of the OSI model, capturing packets as they travel through the network. They can intercept various types of data, including unencrypted information transmitted over protocols like HTTP, as well as encrypted data transmitted over secure protocols like HTTPS. This functionality makes packet sniffers versatile in understanding network behaviors, diagnosing problems, and monitoring for security threats.
Moreover, while packet sniffers can intercept encrypted data, decoding and analyzing the content of encrypted packets might be challenging without the encryption keys. However, they can still provide valuable information about packet headers, packet size, traffic patterns, source, and destination addresses, aiding in identifying potential security issues or irregular network behavior. Therefore, the assertion that packet sniffers exclusively intercept encrypted data is inaccurate, as they can effectively intercept both encrypted and unencrypted network traffic.correct option is 3). It can only intercept encrypted data.