🔒 Secure Messenger Shield

A secure messaging web application developed using Flask as part of a Cyber Security Internship Project. The application demonstrates secure authentication, encrypted messaging, protection against common web attacks, security monitoring, and PDF report generation.

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📌 Project Overview

Secure Messenger Shield is designed to showcase practical cybersecurity concepts in a real-world web application. It allows users to securely register, authenticate, exchange encrypted messages, and monitor security-related events through an interactive dashboard.

The project focuses on implementing security best practices rather than just building a messaging application.

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✨ Features

🔐 Secure User Authentication

• User Registration
• User Login & Logout
• Password Hashing using Flask-Bcrypt
• JWT Authentication
• Session Management

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🔒 End-to-End Message Encryption

• Messages encrypted using Fernet (Cryptography Library)
• Encrypted messages stored securely in the database
• Messages decrypted only when displayed

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🛡️ Security Protection

• XSS Protection using Bleach
• SQL Injection Prevention using SQLAlchemy ORM
• Password Validation
• Email Validation
• Username Validation

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🚦 Rate Limiting

• Prevents brute-force or spam attacks
• Limits the number of messages a user can send within a specified time
• Automatically blocks excessive requests

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📊 Security Dashboard

Displays:

• Total Registered Users
• Total Encrypted Messages
• Successful Logins
• Failed Login Attempts
• XSS Attempts Blocked
• Rate Limit Violations

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📄 PDF Security Report

Generate downloadable security reports containing:

• Registered Users
• Encrypted Messages
• Login Statistics
• XSS Detection Count
• Rate Limit Events

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📝 Security Event Logging

Every important activity is logged, including:

• User Registration
• Login Success
• Login Failure
• Encrypted Message Sent
• XSS Attempt Blocked
• Rate Limit Triggered

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Backend

• Python
• Flask
• Flask SQLAlchemy
• Flask JWT Extended
• Flask Bcrypt
• Flask Limiter

Security Libraries

• Cryptography (Fernet Encryption)
• Bleach (XSS Protection)

Frontend

• HTML5
• CSS3
• JavaScript

Database

• SQLite

Reporting

• ReportLab

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📂 Project Structure

SecureMessenger/
│
├── app.py
├── config.py
├── models.py
├── requirements.txt
│
├── database/
│   └── messenger.db
│
├── reports/
│
├── static/
│   ├── css/
│   ├── js/
│
├── templates/
│   ├── base.html
│   ├── index.html
│   ├── login.html
│   ├── register.html
│   ├── dashboard.html
│   ├── chat.html
│   └── report.html
│
└── utils/
    ├── encryption.py
    ├── jwt_auth.py
    ├── limiter.py
    ├── report.py
    ├── sanitizer.py
    └── validators.py

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⚙️ Installation

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/SecureMessenger.git

Move into the project

cd SecureMessenger

Create virtual environment

python -m venv venv

Activate environment

Windows

venv\Scripts\activate

Linux / macOS

source venv/bin/activate

Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

Run the application

python app.py

Open

http://127.0.0.1:5000

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🔐 Security Features Implemented

✅ Password Hashing

✅ JWT Authentication

✅ Session Management

✅ Message Encryption

✅ XSS Protection

✅ SQL Injection Prevention

✅ Rate Limiting

✅ Security Event Logging

✅ Dashboard Analytics

✅ PDF Report Generation

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📸 Screenshots

Add screenshots here after deployment.

• Home Page
• Login Page
• Register Page
• Dashboard
• Secure Messenger
• PDF Report

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🚀 Future Enhancements

• Real-time messaging using WebSockets
• Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
• Email Verification
• Password Reset
• AES File Encryption
• User-to-User Messaging
• Admin Dashboard
• Docker Deployment

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👨‍💻 Developed By

Arshdeep Kaur

Cyber Security Internship Project

Built using Flask and Python.

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📄 License

This project is developed for educational and internship purposes.