Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 20, 2026

Arpwatch

arpwatch is a computer software tool for monitoring Address Resolution Protocol traffic on a computer network. It generates a log of observed pairing of IP addresses with MAC addresses along with a timestamp when the pairing appeared on the network. It also has the option of sending an email to an administrator when a pairing changes or is added.

Last revised
Jul 20, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
152 w
Citations
1
Source
arpwatch
Original authorCraig Leres
DeveloperLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Network Research Group
Initial releasev1.0 Tue Jun 16 3:05:31 PDT 1992
Stable release
3.3 / March 26, 2022 (2022-03-26)
Written inC
Operating systemCross-platform
Available inEnglish
TypeComputer security
License3-clause BSD source with autoconf parts under GNU General Public License
Websiteee.lbl.gov

arpwatch is a computer software tool for monitoring Address Resolution Protocol traffic on a computer network.1 It generates a log of observed pairing of IP addresses with MAC addresses along with a timestamp when the pairing appeared on the network. It also has the option of sending an email to an administrator when a pairing changes or is added.

Network administrators monitor ARP activity to detect ARP spoofing, network flip-flops, changed and new stations and address reuse.

arpwatch was developed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Network Research Group, as open-source software and is released under the BSD license.

See also

See also

References

References

  1. "arpwatch(8) manual page". Retrieved 2015-01-07.
External links