On Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024, I had the opportunity to lead a workshop on ethical hacking for the students at Annuntiata-Instituut in Veurne. It was an exciting experience to introduce them to the fascinating world of cybersecurity and demonstrate how they can ethically identify and exploit vulnerabilities in systems.

What did the workshop involve?

To provide the students with hands-on experience, I set up an environment where they could use different techniques to disable the account of “Wim.” This account served as the target for the exercise. The students were able to utilize several methods, including:

• XSS (Cross-Site Scripting): A common attack technique that involves injecting malicious scripts into trusted websites.
• SQL Injection (SQLi): A method where harmful SQL commands are used to gain unauthorized access to a database.
• Cookie modification: By altering cookies, the students were able to manipulate access to accounts.

The main goal of the workshop was to raise awareness of the vulnerabilities that can exist within digital systems and how to address them. It wasn’t just about demonstrating how malicious hackers could exploit these weaknesses, but also about how ethical hackers use the same knowledge to protect systems by identifying and fixing those flaws.

Students’ reactions

It was amazing to see how engaged the students were with the subject. Although cybersecurity is a relatively new concept for many of them, I noticed a genuine enthusiasm to learn more about how systems work and how they can be secured. The students asked insightful questions and were actively involved in the exercises.

It was inspiring to witness how young people can become excited about a field that is not only thrilling but also increasingly important in our modern society. Their interest in finding the vulnerabilities in Wim’s account showed how quickly they grasped the hacker mindset – and how ethical hackers can use that same knowledge to make a positive difference.

A valuable experience for me

In addition to being an educational experience for the students, the workshop was also highly enriching for me. It was a pleasure to share my passion for cybersecurity and inspire young people to think about a career in this rapidly growing field. Furthermore, explaining complex topics in a clear and engaging way is always a challenge, and this group of students helped make that easier with their enthusiasm and questions.

Overall, it was an enjoyable and informative workshop for both the students and myself.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity is a field that is becoming increasingly important as our world becomes more digital. I hope this workshop opens the door for some of them to dive deeper into ethical hacking and perhaps even pursue a career in cybersecurity.

The presentation can be found here.