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Two College of Information Technology (CIT) graduates from the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), Mohammed Al Matrooshi and Saeed Al Bairaq, released a mobile cyber-security application called ‘Packet Generator’ on Google Play as part of their senior graduation project. This project was supervised by Dr. Zouheir Trabelsi.

Their application can be used to test the efficiency of firewalls, and intrusion detection systems. This application has a useful educational value as it allows users to generate different kinds of network traffic and learn about denial of service threats. According to the Google Play Store the application has been downloaded more than 8,000 times in about one year and has generated a user rating of 3.75.

The students’ idea came from recognizing the demand for efficient and easy-to-use mobile security tools that test the resilience of network and security devices against common network attacks. 

There is also a demand for educational apps that can be used with mobile devices. Over the last decade the use of mobile devices for both personal and business purposes has increased exponentially with the arrival of smart devices (Google-Android-based smartphones and tablets) and a boom in mobile applications (apps). Mobile devices have become powerful general-purpose computing platforms. In the academic environment more and more students are using mobile devices for academic and research activities. As mobile devices grow in popularity with students, novel educational activities and tools, as well as learning approaches, can be developed to make use of mobile devices. 

This app is designed for networking and security professionals to test the resilience of their network and security devices against malicious attacks. In addition, the app can be used by educators to teach students how to perform ethical hacking attacks and generate specific network traffic.

Professor Mohamed Albaili, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, commended the students on their achievement and stressed that UAEU encourages innovation and imaginative thinking. Dr. Trabelsi and his students are planning to develop an extended version of the app to include other types of network attacks not covered by the current version.