WiFi Psychic

The workshop critically introduced the basics of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) as a creative tool. When we visit websites, use apps or perform any other interactions related to the WWW, we are sending and receiving information. Such communication happens in the form of so called packets, small digital parcels traveling between senders and recipients identified by their IP addresses.

In the modern internet more and more packets are encrypted (information is scrambled by the sender and unscrambled by the recipient) making them more secure. Some, however, remain open (like postcards sent without an envelope) and may contain text, images, sound.

Deep Packet Inspection, one of the tools used by psychics of the network, the so called administrators, allows to sniff packets traveling via a WiFi router and reconstruct what’s encoded in them.

During the workshop, we simulated the process by sending and receiving some open packets and intercepting the information with the help of tools like TCP flow, ettercap, and some Python code. We introduced the differences between http, https and other protocols, and discussed the importance of encryption as means for securing our private information. Finally, we created collective digital and printable gallery, laying intercepted data out through Python.

Some of the workshop outcomes:

About the artists