What is a Man in the Middle Attack?
A man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack is carried out by intruders who successfully position themselves between two legitimate hosts. The attacker can enable normal communication between hosts while altering the conversation between them. The attacker can intercept and modify data exchanged between the two hosts, allowing them to steal sensitive information such as login credentials, financial details, or personal data.
This type of attack is often used to eavesdrop on communication, inject malicious code, or impersonate one of the legitimate hosts to gain unauthorized access to systems or networks. Man-in-the-middle attacks pose a serious threat to the security and privacy of individuals and organizations, highlighting the importance of implementing robust security measures to prevent and detect such attacks.
There are many ways that an attacker gets a position between two hosts. A very good example is called the transparent proxy. The attacker prey on their victims by sending a phishing email or by defacing a legitimate website. When the victim loads the URL of a defaced webpage, the attacker’s URL is added to the front of it.
For example: let’s say http://www.ocbtc.com/ is a legitimate URL. But when the website’s URL is hacked it becomes http://www.theattacker.com/http://www.ocbtc.com/
If an intruder manages to get into a strategic position, they can steal information, take control of an ongoing session to gain access to private network resources, conduct DoS attacks, corrupt transmitted data, or introduce new information into network sessions.
- 1. When a victim requests a webpage, the host of the victim requests the host of the attacker.
- 2. The attacker’s host receives the request and fetches the real page from the legitimate website.
- 3. The attacker can alter the legitimate webpage and apply any transformations to the data they want to make.
- 4. The attacker forwards the requested page to the victim.
Solutions
One way to prevent a Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack is by utilizing VPN tuneels, which restrict the attacker’s access to only encrypted, indecipherable text. VPNs are particularly beneficial in Wide Area Networks. By encrypting data transmissions through VPN tunnels, organizations can ensure that sensitive information remains secure and confidential, even when transmitted over untrusted networks. This added layer of security helps prevent unauthorized access and interception of data, making it harder for attackers to carry out MITM attacks successfully.
Additionally, VPNs provide a secure way for remote employees to connect to the corporate network, further reducing the risk of potential security breaches.
In Local Area Networks, attackers use hacking tools such as ettercap and ARP poisoning. One of the ways to control this type of attack is by configuring port security on LAN switches.
Read:
Network Security Common Network Threats Types of Network Attacks
