A man-in-the-middle attack involves three parties: the victim, the entity with which the victim , and the man-in-the-middle, who monitors and intercepts the victim's communications. Of course, the victim is unaware of the existence of the man-in-the-middle.
How does a man-in-the-middle attack work?
Let's say you receive an emailthat claims to be from your bank. The email asks you to log in to your account to verify some information. The email contains a linkthat supposedly takes you to the website . You log in and do what it asks.
In this hypothetical scenario, the man-in-the-middle (MITM) sent you the email and made it look legitimate. This attack also involves phishing techniques, where you click on the malicious link. In addition, the man-in-the-middle created a site, similar to your bank, to convince you to provide personal information and enter your credentials. In reality, you are not logging into your bank account, but into a fake site, through which the hacker obtains credentials .
How is a man-in-the-middle attack carried out?
There are two ways. One involves physical proximity to the target and the other involves installing some malware. (The above scenario is an example of the second way and is called a man-in-the-browser attack).
Man-in-the-middle attacks usually occur in two phases:
Criminals first need to gain access to an unsecured Wi-Fi router. This is commonly found on public Wi-Fi hotspots and in homes of people who haven't taken care to protect their networks. Attackers scan the router for specific vulnerabilities, such as a weak password.
When attackers find a vulnerable router, they use tools that monitor and read data and network traffic. Hackers can also insert these tools between the victim's computer and the sites they visit, thereby stealing credentials, banking information, and other personal information.
This was the first phase of the attack. The second phase involves decrypting the victim's encrypted files so that the hacker exploit them. If this phase is also completed, then we are talking about a successful man-in-the-middle attack.
What is a man-in-the-browser attack?
In a man-in-the-browser (MITB) attack, the hacker installs malware . on the victim's device. One way to achieve this is through phishing
Phishing: the hacker sends a fake email to the victim, tricking them into opening a malicious link in the attachment. This way, the user can unwittingly download malware onto their device.
The malware is then installed in the browser without the user's knowledge. The malware records data sent between the victim and specific sites, such as those belonging to banks, and transfers it to the attacker.
How to protect yourself from a man-in-the-middle attack?
Criminals have many tools at their disposal to carry out these attacks, so you should take some steps to protect your devices, data, and connections:
- Make sure that “HTTPS”, with an S at the end, is always in the URLs of the sites you visit.
- Be alert for possible phishing emailsthat ask you to update your password or enter your credentials. Do not open linksincluded in attachments. Instead, type the address into your browser.
- Don't connect to public Wi-Fi directly. Install and use a VPN, which encrypts your connection and protects the data you send and receive when using public Wi-Fi.
- Since MITB attacks use malware, you should install antivirus software and update it regularly.
- Make sure your network Wi-Fi is secure. Change the default credentials on your router and all connected devices, and use strong passwords.
As more and more of our personal information is online, we must be very careful and take care of the security of our devices and networks.
