Web Application Programming and Hacking

Student Name: Guntakala Lavanya

Course Information

In this course, we studied basic web application development using front-end technologies (HTML5, JavaScript, CSS) and back-end components (PHP/MySQL). Web application vulnerabilities and attacks were introduced through hands-on exercises and secure programming practices.

We completed multiple labs, hands-on tasks, and hackathons throughout the course.

Overview of Lab 0

This lab was done in two parts. In Part 1, I installed and configured an Ubuntu virtual machine and essential software including net-tools, Sublime Text, Git, Pandoc, Apache 2, Google Chrome, and Wireshark. In Part 2, I cloned the course repository from GitHub and created an SSH key pair to enable credential-free Git operations.

Overview of Lab 1

This lab covered HTTP protocol and basic web app programming.

• Task 1: Using Wireshark to understand HTTP traffic
• Task 2: HTTP protocol using Telnet and Wireshark
• Task 3: CGI Web apps in C
• Task 4: Simple PHP app with user input
• Task 5: Understanding GET and POST requests

Overview of Lab 2

This lab had two tasks: Task 1 was creating a basic HTML page with forms and JavaScript. Task 2 included using Ajax, CSS, jQuery, and integrating Web APIs. All tasks were done on a virtual machine using Sublime Text.

Overview of Hackathon 1

This hackathon focused on cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities. I performed XSS attacks at multiple levels and learned defense methods using hands-on lecture-based exercises.

Overview of Individual Project

The individual project was to build a professional portfolio targeting potential employers. It included the resume and extra tasks such as clocks, API integration, and cookie-based features — all deployed on GitHub.