Py PCAPKit

Abstract

1. Introduction

The PyPCAPKit project is an open source Python program focused on network packet parsing and analysis, which works as a comprehensive PCAP file extraction, construction and analysis library, with DictDumper as its formatted output dumper.

Unlike popular PCAP file extractors such as Scapy, DPKT and PyShark, pcapkit is designed to be much more comprehensive: it reports more detailed information about each packet, and offers a more Pythonic interface to work with it. When that depth is not what you need, the same interface will also drive six third-party extraction engines instead.

2. Objective

Python-based Comprehensive Network Packet Analysis Library

This project demonstrates how Python can be applied to a real-world Cybersecurity & Ethical Hacking problem.

4. Technology Stack

5. System Requirements

General requirements for this technology stack — check the README for exact versions.

• Python 3.8 or later
• pip / virtualenv for dependencies
• VS Code, PyCharm or Jupyter Notebook
• Git (to clone the repository)

6. Installation & Setup

git clone https://github.com/JarryShaw/PyPCAPKit.git
cd PyPCAPKit

pip install pypcapkit

git clone https://github.com/JarryShaw/PyPCAPKit.git
cd PyPCAPKit
pip install -e .

pip install pypcapkit[DPKT]         # or Scapy, PyShark, PyPCAPFile, PyPCAP, PCAP_CT
pip install pypcapkit[crypto]       # ESP payload decryption
pip install pypcapkit[cli]          # command line interface
pip install pypcapkit[all]          # every pure-Python extra

>>> import pcapkit
>>> extraction = pcapkit.extract('in.pcap', nofile=True)
>>> len(extraction.frame)
6
>>> frame = extraction.frame[0]
>>> str(frame.protochain)
'Ethernet:IPv6:IPv6_ICMP'
>>> frame.info.time
datetime.datetime(2017, 11, 19, 15, 49, 5, 471719, tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc)
>>> frame.payload.payload.src
IPv6Address('fe80::a6:87f9:2793:16ee')

Full setup instructions are in the project README.

7. Future Enhancements

Suggested extensions you can add to make this your own project.

• Add logging and alert notifications (email / Telegram)
• Write a threat model document for the tool
• Package it with Docker for safe lab testing

8. Viva / Review Questions

Common questions examiners ask for projects in this domain.

1. Which threat or attack does this project defend against?
2. What detection or protection technique is used and what are its limits?
3. How are false positives and false negatives handled?
4. Which cryptographic algorithms or security standards are involved?
5. What legal and ethical rules apply when testing a tool like this?

9. Source Code & License

This project is developed by JarryShaw and published on GitHub under the BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License. Please follow the license terms and credit the original author when you use or modify this code.