BookWorm Security

Designed By:

Ferghus Dorais, Nicholas Dalla Costa

Kristen Fong, Ken Gedorio, David Jang

The BookWorm

The BookWorm is a Raspberry Pi, encased within a book with the necessary components to provide power and packet capturing functionality. It has been made with the intention of raising awareness on the vulnerabilities of public Wi-Fi networks.


Below is an image of the internals of the BookWorm, including the power supply, the Raspberry Pi and the network adapter that will be used during the data capture.

Our project has been made primarily with the goal to raise awareness of cybersecurity for the everyday user. For more information on a few ways to increase your data's security when using the web, click the link below to jump to our educational program!

Our educational program

BookWorm Specifications

Below are some of the hardware and software specifications involved in the BookWorm.

  • Raspberry Pi 4
  • 4 x 18650 Battery Cells
  • Kali Linux OS
  • Network Interfacing

The Raspberry Pi 4 is the computer from which the operating system, and the necessary packet tracking software will be installed. It is the "brain" of the BookWorm, that collects the data and presents it in a way that is readable to the team.

An image of the Raspberry Pi with the UPS hat.


The Battery Cells are intended to provide power to the BookWorm for an extended period of time. It allows the BookWorm to operate discreetly, without the use of wires or cables.

An image of the battery cells, salvaged from a vacuum cleaner


The Kali Linux OS is the operating system with which other programs and applications will be installed. The Operating System is essentially what tells the computer what to do and when to do it, and the Kali Linux OS comes with many tools useful for network monitoring and packing sniffing.

The Network Interfacing will be done with a physical book, which can be placed in a secure and discreet location. The book's appearance is inconspicuous, allowing the team to attract as little attention as possible to the BookWorm, from the public.

An image of the BookWorm when it is closed


Some additional photos of the BookWorm


A sideview image of the BookWorm


Another sideview image of the BookWorm


An image of the BookWorm when it is closed


Network Vulnerabilities

Aloft Calgary University will be hosting the public Wi-Fi network where the project will take place. There, we will analyze security vulnerabilities present in their public network, to be part of our educational program.

The venue was organized by David along with Nick, and during our time at Aloft Calgary University, we had a chance to perform live data capture for some of the staff at the hotel. We also had a chance to view inbound data traffic going to our machines, and were able to discuss this traffic with the manager, potentially being the hotel's intrusion detection system.


Want to learn more about keeping your data safe on the web? Click the link below to jump to our educational program!

Our educational program

The Team Behind The BookWorm

The Team and its members have been listed below. Images have been included as well as short descriptions of the tasks completed by each team member.

Ferghus Dorais

Ferghus initially proposed the BookWorm itself and played a leadership role within the team. Ferghus worked primarily on the BookWorm itself taking part in both the hardware and software components of the project.

Nicholas Dalla Costa

Nick worked on much of the documentation of the project. He also took part in the development of some of the graphic designs and disclaimers of the project.

Kristen Fong

Kristen took part in creating much of the graphic designs of the project as well as parts of the documentation. The logo currently being used on the website and bsuiness cards were made by Kristen.

Ken Gedorio

Ken took part primarily on the placing of content on the website and the formatting of that content, along with taking part in some of the content in the educational program.

David Jang

David was responsible for the arrangements with the current venue. He took part in the creation of a short video in the educational program, as well as maintaining communications with the venue.

Team Photo

On the right, we have included some photos of the team taking part in the live data capture at Alof Calgary University.

Link for Educational Program

A link to the educational program has been placed below. We've included the educational program as a way to offer a few solutions in increasing data security on the web. Click below to learn more!