Wireless and Network Security: Wireshark, Fiddler, and Emerging Tech

This report delves into the realm of wireless and network security, commencing with an examination of two prominent WLAN sniffing tools: Wireshark and Fiddler. The report provides a step-by-step guide to installing Wireshark on a Windows operating system, highlighting its features such as alerts, filtering, and customizable reports, along with WinPcap installation. Fiddler, initially designed for HTTP/HTTPS traffic manipulation, is also explored, with installation instructions and its utility in identifying network traffic bottlenecks and decrypting HTTPS traffic. The report then transitions to discuss emerging wireless technologies, including Wi-Fi, Li-Fi, and Gi-Fi. It details the applications, advantages, and disadvantages of each technology, along with a discussion of their respective security concerns. Wi-Fi's applications range from home and office connectivity to public hotspots, while Li-Fi utilizes visible light for data transmission, offering secure and efficient communication. Gi-Fi, or Gigabit wireless, enables high-speed data transfer. The report concludes by emphasizing the evolving landscape of wireless technologies and their implications for network security.

Wireless and Network Security
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Part A
The two WLAN sniffing tool that will be demonstrated in this section are Wireshark and
Fiddler.
Wireshark
Wireshark is a popular open-source WLAN sniffing tool that allows the network
administrators to monitor all the details regarding the network and how traffic is transmitted
across the network.it is easy to use and offer features like alerts, filtering, advanced triggers,
and customizable reports. Other features include rich VoIP analysis, captures .gzip
compressed files, offline analysis and live capture, support decryption for many protocols,
standard three-packet browsers, and is multi-platform [1]. The next section will describe
installation of Wireshark on a computer running on Windows operating system. First, ensure
that you have downloaded the correct version for your operating system either 64 or 32-bit.
Step 1: run the installation file as administrator, click next when the following screen appears.
Figure 1: Step 1
Step 2: Click on ‘I Agree’ to accept the terms and conditions as shown in figure 2

Figure 2: Step 2
Step 3: Select all the components and click on ‘Next’ as shown in figure 3.
Figure 3:Step 3

Step 4: Choose if you prefer Desktop Icon or Start menu as shown in figure 4 and click next.
Make sure the ‘File Extensions’ is selected.
Figure 4: Step 4
Step 5: Choose installation location, by default it selects C:\Program Files\Wireshark. Click
‘Next’ as shown in figure 5.

Figure 5: Step 5
Step 6: For Wireshark to work, one needs to install WinPcap. Check on the install checkbox
and click on ‘install’ as shown in figure 6.
Figure 6: Step 6

Step 7: The files will be extracted as shown in figure 7. Wait for it to finish.
Figure 7: Step 7
Step 8: after extraction is completed a window like the one shown in figure 8 will pop up.
Click ‘next’.

Figure 8: Step 8
Step 9: Click on ‘I Agree’ to continue with installation as shown in figure 9.
Figure 9: Step 9
Step 10: Check on the Automatically start the WinPcap driver at boot time Check box as
shown in figure 10 and click on ‘Install’.

Figure 10: Step 10
Step 11: Click on finish once the installation process is completed as shown in figure 11.
Figure 11: Step 11

Step 12: Once you have completed installing WinPcap, Wireshark will proceed and complete
installation as shown in figure 12 and click on ‘next’.
Figure 12: Step 12
Step 13: Installation of Wireshark is successful, click on ‘Finish as shown in figure 13.

Figure 13: Step 13
Once done, you can launch Wireshark from the program Icon on the desktop or start menu.
The dashboard will be as shown in figure 14.
Figure 14: Wireshark Dashboard
Fiddler
Initially, Fiddler was not designed for packet sniffing, but additional features have been
added to support WLAN sniffing. It is used to log and manipulate HTTPS and HTTP traffic
whether on non-web applications, desktop, or any device as long as it utilizes HTTPs and
HTTP connection and transmission. Fiddler provide superior packet sniffing functionalities
and helps a network administrator to identify the cause of high traffic on the network. It can
also be used to remove performance bottleneck. Moreover, it provides decryption of HTTPS
traffic and web debugging function [2]. To install Fiddler on a computer running Windows
operating system, the following steps can be followed.
First download installation file that is compatible with your version of the operating system.
Step 1: Run the installation file that you have down loaded as shown in figure 15.

Figure 15: Step 1
Step 2: Accept the terms and conditions by clicking on ‘I Agree’ as shown in figure 16.
Figure 16: Step 2
Step 3: Choose the installation path as shown in figure 17 and click on Install.

Figure 17: Step 3
Step 4: Once the installation is complete, click on ‘Close’ as shown in figure 18.
Figure 18: Step 4
Launch Fiddler and begin packet sniffing.
Comparing the two WLAN sniffing tools, Wireshark is way better and offer a great graphical
user interface and superior sniffing tools.
Part B
Emerging Wireless Technologies
In the modern era, the evolving wireless technologies are slowly replacing the wired
connections. Evolvement of new wireless technologies has assisted in bringing out various