THE PAPER MAINLY FOCUSES ON HOW NETWORK MONITORING TOOLS CAN BE HELPFUL IN THE PROTECTION OF COMMUNICATION NETWORK AND HOW DIFFERENT KINDS OF NETWORK ATTACKS ARE PERFORMED. NOWADAYS, NETWORK SECURITY IS THE MAIN CONCERN OF EACH ORGANIZATION, HENCE NETWORK MONITORING HAS BECOME AN IMPORTANT PART OF COMPUTER SECURITY TO PREVENT ATTACKS. THERE ARE SEVERAL WAY TO PROTECT COMMUNICATION NETWORK SUCH AS FIREWALLS, VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK (VPN), ENCRYTION TECHNIQUES. IN SPITE OF ALL THESE TECHNIQUES, INTRUSIONS STILL TAKE PLACE. IN SUCH CASES, NETWORK MONITORING TOOLS SUCH AS WIRESHARK AND SNORT PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN INTRUSION DETECTION. WIRESHARK AND SNORT ARE CAPABLE OF MONITORING NETWORK PROCESSES OR MOVEMENTS IN A GRAPHICAL WAY TO DETECT INTRUSION. NETWORK MONITORING THROUGH INTRUSION DETECTION SYSTEM (IDS) AND INTRUSION PREVENTION SYSTEM (IPS) HAS ENHANCED THE PERFORMANCE AND SECURITY OF THE NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE.