Man in the Middle attacks intercept and capture information exchanged between two parties, often through a virus. The concept predates computers, but has adapted to the digital age. Successful attacks go unnoticed, but methods such as encrypted data and secure authentication can minimize their impact. Unprotected websites remain vulnerable, so users should verify authenticity before entering private information.
Man in the Middle attacks are one of several devices used to gain access to proprietary information, such as passcodes, login credentials, and credit card numbers. The process is essentially to install a virus that acts as an interface between two points. None of the parties involved in the exchange is aware that the information being exchanged is being intercepted and captured by the intermediary virus.
The concept of a man in the middle attack predates the inception of the personal computer and the widespread use of the Internet. Even in the earlier days, intelligence operations would employ the idea of establishing a third party which would in effect initiate a dual interface with two other parties. Each of the other two parties would assume they were involved in a direct link to each other, not realizing that the third party was intercepting, interpreting, and then transmitting the communication.
With the advent of desktop computers and their common use in the home and in almost all types of businesses, the concept of the man in the middle was quickly translated to work in the new medium. By securing the public key for one of the parties to the exchange, the attacker can pretend to be that user. The attacker then sends his public key to the second party, but pretends to be the originating party. From then on, all information exchanged during the transaction is routed through the attacker, who is free to copy the data for later use.
The key to a successful man-in-the-middle operation is making sure that neither side is aware of the attacker’s presence. This means that the attacker must take steps to keep a low profile and not call attention to the fact that the data is being routed through an extra step before reaching its intended destination. Unfortunately, when a trade is uninsured, this isn’t a difficult task.
There are several ways to fight a man in the midst of the attack. Over time, more robust methods have been developed for creating and verifying secure authentication and encrypted public keys. Many banks have switched to using encrypted secondary data which must be verified before a transaction can take place. Online businesses have begun using methods such as secret keys to verify a customer’s true identity before processing an order.
All of these methods helped minimize the impact of the man in the middle strategy. However, there are many websites that remain unprotected and therefore vulnerable to this type of attack. For this reason, Internet users should never enter private information into any site unless the authenticity and secure nature of the site can first be verified.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
