HTTP vs HTTPS

Overview

Demonstrates man-in-the-middle attacks, traffic interception, certificate validation, and TLS hardening practices for protecting data in transit.

Learning Outcomes

• Differentiate HTTP vs HTTPS and when to use each
• Observe plaintext interception and basic MITM techniques
• Enable TLS, validate certificates, and configure ciphers
• Apply HSTS, secure cookies, and redirect strategies
• Verify secure transport with browser and CLI tools

Hands-on Labs

Guided exercises walk through intercepting HTTP, upgrading to HTTPS, deploying self-signed vs trusted certificates, and hardening HTTP response headers.

Who It's For

Students and practitioners learning secure transport fundamentals, defenders validating configurations, and developers shipping secure web apps.