Networking Essentials & Security

Overview

Understanding network security and traffic analysis is essential for cybersecurity and IT professionals. This project will guide you through capturing and analyzing network packets with Wireshark and configuring a secure VPN with WireGuard.

What You Will Learn

Networking fundamentals: IP addresses, TCP/UDP, ports, protocols.
Capturing and analyzing network traffic using Wireshark.
Recognizing insecure communication (HTTP, FTP) and encryption (HTTPS, VPNs).
Setting up a WireGuard VPN for secure encrypted communication.
Understanding firewall rules and log analysis for network security.

Self-Check: Networking & Security Readiness

Before starting the lab, try answering these:

What is the difference between TCP and UDP?
How can you check network traffic on your system?
What security risks exist when using FTP over the internet?

Access the Full Lab Instructions

Details

Read the full lab instructions here

Submitting Your Work

Document your steps using screenshots or Markdown.
Submit via GitHub, LMS, or your course portal.

Networking Essentials & Security Lab

Networking Essentials & Security Lab 1️⃣ Capturing and Analyzing Network Traffic with Wireshark Step 1: Install Wireshark Download and install Wireshark from Wireshark.org. Ensure you have the necessary permissions to capture network traffic. Step 2: Capture Network Traffic Open Wireshark and select your network interface. Click Start Capture and browse websites to generate traffic. Stop the capture after 2 minutes. Step 3: Filter and Analyze Packets Use tcp, udp, or http as display filters. Locate and inspect HTTP packets to identify unencrypted traffic. Use Follow TCP Stream to view communication between clients and servers. Step 4: Identifying Security Risks Locate an HTTP login request and extract credentials. Compare it to an HTTPS request to observe encryption. 2️⃣ Configuring a Secure VPN with WireGuard Step 1: Install WireGuard On Debian Linux: ...

Networking Essentials & Security#

Overview#

What You Will Learn#

Self-Check: Networking & Security Readiness#

Access the Full Lab Instructions#