Extracting data from unencrypted protocols

In addition to determining relationships, critical services, and determining targets for additional attacks, a wealth of information can be gathered from the packet capture itself. Many of the services used on IP WLANs are transmitted between the client and the destination unencrypted. Wireshark makes it easy to extract sensitive information from this communication.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application-layer protocol used to browse the Internet and can also be used to send control traffic between nodes. Web browsers have become the primary way that a user interacts with applications, not only on the Internet but also on their local networks. HTTP is a clear text protocol. You can easily extract any data passed using HTTP from your packet capture. The information contained within this capture could reveal sensitive information like login credentials, office documents, downloaded files, and data submitted via forms.

HTTP communications...