Man-in-the-Middle

Man-in-the-Middle: Learn About Man-in-the-Middle Attacks, Vulnerabilities and How to Prevent MITM Attacks

What Is a Man-in-the-Middle Attack?

A man-in-the-middle attack is a type of cyberattack where a malicious actor inserts him/herself into a conversation between two parties, impersonates both parties and gains access to information that the two parties were trying to send to each other. A man-in-the-middle attack allows a malicious actor to intercept, send and receive data meant for someone else, or not meant to be sent at all, without either outside party knowing until it is too late. Man-in-the-middle attacks can be abbreviated in many ways, including MITM, MitM, MiM or MIM.

Key Concepts of a Man-in-the-Middle Attack

• Man-in-the-middle is a type of eavesdropping attack that occurs when a malicious actor inserts himself as a relay/proxy into a communication session between people or systems.
• A MITM attack exploits the real-time processing of transactions, conversations or transfer of other data.
• Man-in-the-middle attacks allow attackers to intercept, send and receive data never meant to be for them without either outside party knowing until it is too late.