Plaintext on the Wire: Packet Analysis for Defenders

<p>Kestrel Logistics, a fictional Pune freight company, still runs its old staff portal over plain HTTP next to a new HTTPS copy. The IT manager wants proof, not opinions. You get a capture taken on one staff workstation while it logged in to both.</p><p>In five lessons you learn how data crosses a network (frames, packets, segments, ports), read a capture the way an analyst does (packet list, protocol tree, bytes), follow a TCP conversation, write Wireshark display filters, and see exactly what TLS protects and what it still reveals. You finish by recommending the fix that actually works.</p><p>Everything runs in Bartman's in-browser Packet Lab, which looks and works like Wireshark. Nothing to install, and no real network is touched: your capture is generated for you, so your frame numbers, hosts and names differ from everyone else's. You can also download your capture as a .pcap and open it in real Wireshark. Part of the Bartman Cybersecurity track (Professional Certificate in Cybersecurity, LSBF).</p>

Tools: Packet analysis, Wireshark, TCP/IP, HTTP, TLS, Display filters