HTTP/S Protocol Basics
Explore the basics of HTTP and HTTPS protocols essential for web application penetration testing. Understand how data communication occurs between clients and servers, the security risks of unencrypted HTTP, and how HTTPS secures data through encryption and authentication. This lesson equips you with knowledge of web protocols to better assess web application vulnerabilities.
Introduction to web protocols
Protocols are rules that guide communication between different elements in a networking environment. The hardware and software work together to complete tasks—for example, to send data across a network through various computers. As such, the web works with many different protocols that allow communication to take place in many different ways.
This leads us to the Open Systems Interconnection Reference model, which is also known as the OSI model. A web application pentester is expected to have a sound understanding of the OSI model. Knowledge of various protocols and how they work, how communication takes place in and across networks, and how to navigate through the ...