What is an 'on-path' attack?

The correct answer is C. An attack that attempts to intercept the communication between two devices in order to modify. An on-path attack (the modern term for a man-in-the-middle or MITM attack) occurs when a threat actor positions themselves between two communicating parties, intercepting and potentially altering the data in transit without either party's knowledge. Option A describes…

Security Principles

Question

Options

AAn attack with the goal of gaining access to a target system through the use of a falsified identity
BAn attack involving numerous unsuspecting secondary victim systems
CAn attack that attempts to intercept the communication between two devices in order to modify
DA passive, noninvasive attack to observe the operation of a device

How the community answered

(28 responses)

A
4% (1)
B
4% (1)
C
86% (24)
D
7% (2)

Explanation

An on-path attack (the modern term for a man-in-the-middle or MITM attack) occurs when a threat actor positions themselves between two communicating parties, intercepting and potentially altering the data in transit without either party's knowledge. Option A describes spoofing/identity-based attacks. Option B describes a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) botnet scenario. Option D describes passive eavesdropping or side-channel analysis. Only Option C captures the defining characteristic of an on-path attack: active interception and potential modification of communications.

Topics

#On-path attack#Man-in-the-Middle#Network security#Attack types

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