Hands-on Cybersecurity Studies: Session Hijacking and Safe Wi-Fi Practices

Author(s):

Ana Rodriguez and Jaime C. Acosta

Abstract:

This report provides participants with insights into cybersecurity, specifically focusing on Wi-Fi and network traffic analysis. Through hands-on engagement, attendees develop proficiency in understanding wireless networks, highlighting the risks posed by weak encryption and open networks. Well-known and publicly available tools from the Aircrack-ng suite (including airmon-ng, airodump-ng, aireplay-ng, airdecap-ng, and aircrack-ng) are used for packet capture, deauthentication, and password analysis. Additionally, Wireshark is used for traffic analysis, showcasing how session cookies and user sessions work. By simulating a real-world scenario, participants enhance their ability to recognize and mitigate Wi-Fi security issues, reinforcing best practices for secure network configurations and user protection.