Week 18: Protocols, Packets, and Getting to the Internet

The final week completes Garden State Cyber I with packet switching, TCP/IP concepts, ports, the TCP three-way handshake, and evidence-based packet analysis.

It also gives students a chance to connect the entire semester into one defensible system model.

This week

Lesson 1: Packets and Protocols: Move Data Without Sending One Giant Block

Model packet switching, encapsulation, protocol layers, TCP/UDP port roles, and layered packet evidence.

Lesson 2: TCP Three-Way Handshake: Establish the Conversation

Identify SYN, SYN/ACK, and ACK in a supplied capture, trace endpoint IP/port pairs, and distinguish incomplete connection evidence from unsupported attack claims.

Lesson 3: Final Network Dossier: Explain the Whole Trip

Trace a fictional workstation-to-server path, prove ARP and TCP behavior from packet evidence, map six security controls, inject one failure, and assemble a five-artifact course portfolio.

What you will produce

• encapsulation diagram
• layered packet card
• TCP handshake timeline
• failed-handshake analysis
• complete network path diagram
• six-control security map
• failure-injection analysis
• five-artifact learning portfolio
• final architecture defense

The final standard is:

Explain the system, cite the evidence, stay inside scope, and choose a defense that matches the actual failure.