Wireshark Protocol Analysis
Learn how network protocols actually behave on the wire by analyzing ARP, ICMP, TCP, UDP, DNS, HTTP, and TLS traffic using Wireshark—building the protocol understanding required before security investigations.
Overview
Before investigating attacks, SOC analysts must understand how normal network communication works. Protocol analysis is about observing requests, responses, sessions, and conversations to build a mental model of expected behavior.
In this project, you will use Wireshark to analyze real packet captures and understand core network protocols at each layer, how they communicate, and how Wireshark represents that communication.
In this project, you will:
- Understand what protocol analysis means and why it matters
- Analyze Layer 2 to Layer 7 protocols using Wireshark
- Observe protocol flows, handshakes, and conversations
- Follow streams to reconstruct full sessions
- Use statistics and protocol hierarchy to validate behavior
- Learn to identify normal vs abnormal protocol patterns (without attack focus)
This project builds protocol intuition, not threat hunting.
What You'll Learn
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Foundations of Protocol Analysis
Understand how protocol analysis differs from packet capture and why knowing normal behavior is critical before security investigations.
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Layer 2 & Layer 3 Protocol Analysis (ARP, ICMP)
Analyze local network resolution and connectivity checks to understand baseline network communication.
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Transport Layer Analysis (TCP & UDP)
Learn how connections, ports, handshakes, and session states work in real packet captures.
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Application Layer Analysis (DNS & HTTP)
Understand name resolution, request–response behavior, headers, and application data flow.
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Encrypted Traffic Awareness (TLS/HTTPS)
Learn what information remains visible in encrypted traffic and how analysts still gain insight.
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Streams, Conversations & Statistics
Follow complete sessions and use protocol hierarchy and statistics to validate protocol behavior.
About Trainer
Rajneesh Gupta
Rajneesh Gupta is a seasoned cybersecurity professional with over 11 years of industry experience. With a remarkable career focused on incident response, penetration testing, security compliance, and risk management, Rajneesh has established himself as a leading expert in the field. He is also an accomplished author, having penned the book "Hands-on with Blockchain and Cybersecurity". As a dedicated educator, Rajneesh has made a significant impact on the cybersecurity community by training over 60,000 students globally.
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