Day 10 of learning cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity beginner documenting my daily learning journey. Learning Linux, networking, and security fundamentals. Sharing notes, mistakes, and takeaways as I grow.
Today I learned about HTTP and HTTPS in detail and how web communication works between a client and a server.
I started with understanding what HTTP and HTTPS are. HTTP is the protocol used to transfer data on the web, while HTTPS is the secure version that encrypts communication to protect data from interception.
Next, I learned about requests and responses. A client sends an HTTP request to the server, and the server replies with an HTTP response. This request–response cycle is the foundation of how websites work.
Then I studied HTTP methods. These methods define the action to be performed on the resource:
GET – retrieve data
POST – send data
PUT – update data
DELETE – remove data
After that, I learned about HTTP status codes, which indicate the result of a request:
200 – successful request
301/302 – redirection
404 – resource not found
500 – server error
I also learned about HTTP headers. Headers carry additional information in requests and responses, such as content type, authentication details, and caching instructions.
Next, I studied cookies. Cookies are small pieces of data stored in the browser that help maintain user sessions, preferences, and authentication states.
Finally, I learned about making HTTP requests, which helps in understanding how browsers, APIs, and tools communicate with servers.
Why this matters for cybersecurity:
Most web attacks exploit HTTP communication. Understanding requests, headers, cookies, and status codes is essential for identifying vulnerabilities and securing web applications.
