What is Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MITM)?
Let's find out Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MITM) meaning, definition in crypto, what is Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MITM), and all other detailed facts.
A man-in-the-middle attack (MITM) is a type of cyberattack where the attacker intercepts a conversation between two parties, eavesdrops on the content, and may be able to modify the information transmitted by one or both parties. The term is not to be confused with a meet-in-the-middle attack.
The two parties being intercepted believe that they are communicating directly and securely. The perpetrator acts as a third party, intercepting the information, and is able to send new messages or modify them to appear as if they were sent from one of the two parties.
Man-in-the-middle attacks often occur when users connect to unprotected Wi-Fi networks. The goal of such cyberattacks is to steal sensitive information, such as login or banking details, spy on the victims, or modify and corrupt data.
Encryption can protect users from experiencing MITM attacks. In some cases, attackers may employ methods like phishing to trick users into visiting scam websites that appear legitimate. Data acquired from phishing websites can be harvested or recorded with little to no trace, meaning that users often don’t know they fell victim to a MITM attack.
Man-in-the-middle attacks attempt to avoid mutual authentication. This means that the attacker must impersonate each end of the conversation well enough to convince the parties that the conversation is not intercepted. Cryptographic protocols rely on endpoint authentication to prevent MITM attackers from interfering.
Transport Layer Security, or TLS, uses a mutually trusted certificate of trust to authenticate the identities of the parties involved in the conversation.