An open network.
Readable credentials.
Three interactive Wireshark demonstrations: Telnet, FTP and HTTP expose your credentials in cleartext on the network. Then the same request over encrypted HTTPS.
💻 Victim
192.168.1.12
📡 WiFi
Shared network
👤 Attacker
192.168.1.47
Victim and attacker on the same network
Corporate Wi-Fi, a hotel, or a café: all unencrypted traffic is visible to everyone.
The local network is an illusory zone of trust
On a shared network, any device can listen to other people's traffic. The attacker needs no special access — they're simply connected to the same Wi-Fi. In promiscuous mode, their network card captures every frame.
Key figures
Port 0
Telnet — credentials in cleartext
visible in every TCP frame, no effort needed
0 ms
Detection time
with Wireshark on an unencrypted network
TLS 0,0
Today's standard
renders credentials unreadable on the network
Technical demo
Watch the capture live
Simulate a Telnet, FTP, or HTTP session and watch your credentials appear in Wireshark just as an attacker on the same network would.
Interactive demonstration
Cleartext traffic capture
Simulate a Wireshark capture across three unencrypted protocols and watch credentials appear in real time.
Telnet connection settings
Attack topology (MITM)
Client
10.0.0.2
Attacker
MITM / Sniff
Server
10.0.0.1
Protocol comparison
What the attacker sees
Same Wireshark, same network — opposite result depending on the protocol used.
Encrypted protocols render traffic opaque even with full network access — the attacker only sees unreadable bytes without the session key.