What is a Man in the Middle Attack? Everything You Need to Know

Organizations invest heavily in research and development to invent new technologies and make them feasible for everyone. However, the problem arises when attackers try to manipulate, modify, and steal an organization’s confidential details using man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks.

According to the statistics by Astra Security, approximately 19% of successful attacks are man-in-the-middle attacks. According to these stats, there is a prediction that cybercrime will cost the world around $10.5 Trillion annually by 2025.

There is a need to adopt the ideology of People Security Management, which focuses on reducing human errors. Organizations need to focus on strengthening their defense mechanisms by providing security awareness training to employees and implementing best practices to reduce their chances of becoming victims of MitM attacks.

In the blog, we will be learning about the Man in the Middle attack (MITM attacks) and various prevention strategies for being safe from these attacks.

What is a Man in the Middle (MITM) Attack?

The MITM stands for man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack. It is a type of cyberattack where cybercriminals intercept and relay communications between two parties who believe that they are communicating with each other directly.

Attackers eavesdrop on confidential communications and aim to capture confidential details such as bank details and login credentials. MITM attacks are used for targeting SaaS businesses, e-commerce websites, and financial applications as large amounts of confidential details are exchanged. It also involves the use of impersonation techniques to act as a trusted entity.

For easy interception of data, attackers use techniques like SSL stripping which are used for downgrading encrypted connections. 

5 Stages of Man In The Middle Attacks

From Interception to Exploitation:

• Interception

The attackers use interception techniques to position themselves between the communication of two parties.

• Decryption

For encrypted data, SSL stripping techniques are used for downgrading the connection.

• Eavesdropping

For collective confidential details, the hacker tries to listen to communications between the two parties.

• Data Manipulation

Data manipulation is done to alter the data to mislead or exploit people

• Impersonation

The attacker uses impersonation techniques to appear as the legitimate entity which can be used to gain access to confidential company details.

The Effects of a MitM Attack on Information Security

A man-in-the-middle attack can be carried out for financial gain and espionage, which is extremely disruptive and dangerous for any individual or organization. An MITM attack can provide cybercriminals with a variety of confidential information and private data about people. This attack can incur huge financial damage to an individual or organization. There are multiple ways in which a man-in-the-middle attack can be carried out. 

Types of Man in the Middle Attacks

Email Hijacking

In this type of MITM attack, cybercriminals compromise the victim’s email and eavesdrop on their communication. Threat actors leverage phishing and malicious emails to lure victims through social engineering tactics. This allows them to inject malware through impersonation.

Working of MITM Attacks.

DNS Spoofing

It is also known as DNS poisoning or DNS cache poisoning. In this attack, a DNS server is corrupted by a threat actor to change the actual IP address to a fake one. This fake IP address replaces the actual one in the server cache memory. Cybercriminals use this method to redirect web traffic to a fake or compromised website controlled by attackers. 

IP Spoofing 

This attack involves threat actors who create a fake IP address to impersonate a computing system and infiltrate a network. This will allow threat actors to infiltrate the network and monitor targeted user activities. An IP spoofing attack enables attackers to make the victim believe that they are using a legitimate website. Cybercriminals leverage IP spoofing attacks to carry out Denial of Service (DoS) attacks.

SSL Hijacking

SSL Hijacking is an MITM attack in which attackers use the process of interception to manipulate a secure HTTPS connection by compromising the SSL/TLS encryption method. Through this process, cybercriminals steal confidential details such as login credentials, bank details, and session tokens.

Session Hijacking

Session hijacking is also known as ‘cookie hijacking’. In this type of attack, an online session is exploited illegally, allowing the threat actors to get access to web-based applications, websites, or any device. The primary target of session hijacking is the sessions of targeted web browsers or web applications.

Wi-Fi Eavesdropping

Most public Wi-Fi networks are not secure and can be easily exploited. Threat actors carry out this type of attack by creating a Wi-Fi hotspot, which is called ‘Evil Twin’. The evil twin is a fraudulent Wi-Fi access point that is represented as legitimate and is actively used for spying on wireless networks. In simpler terms, cybercriminals usually find a spot around public locations to provide free wi-fi. When a user connects themselves to such a network, the threat actors can infiltrate the targeted individual’s network and eavesdrop on their activities.

HTTPS Spoofing

HTTPS Spoofing aims to trick users into visiting fraudulent websites by mimicking trusted domains. By using this process, attackers aim to steal confidential details such as passwords, bank details, and session cookies.

Man in the Browser

In this type of MITM attack, cybercriminals exploit the vulnerabilities in web-based applications or web browsers to deploy malicious software such as trojans, malicious code, malware, etc. These malicious scripts are used to record and steal real-time information that might be private and confidential.

For Context

If an individual accesses a public wi-fi to make financial transactions. If they use the exploited web browser on a compromised network, then the malicious scripts embedded in the browser will capture the login credentials and confidential information of the user. This will be used by threat actors to make fraudulent transactions and even modify receipts to hide the details of the transfer.

How to Prevent a Man in the Middle Attack?

It is quite tough to detect and prevent a man-in-the-middle attack. The reason is that most of the time, it goes unnoticed. So, there are some set procedures that are meant to secure the communication between two people or devices on the network. These procedures can be differently defined for users and website operators. 

Precautionary measures are the most plausible approach. That’s why the most effective method to prevent man in the middle attacks is by being vigilant about any kind of suspicious element. These elements can be page authentication or implementing tools for tamper detection. 

Best Practices to Prevent Man in the Middle Attacks

There are some practices that can be followed by employees or people, in general, to identify and prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. They are listed below.

Use of Unique & Strong Passwords

There is a need to ensure passwords are unique and use a mix of characters to prevent unauthorized access.

Implement 2-Factor Authentication

Implementing 2-FA authentication helps add an extra layer of security and reduces the chances of unauthorized access.

Use of VPNs

Organizations need to implement Virtual Private Networks (VPN) for encrypting internet connections.

Enforcing HTTPS

Enforcing HTTPS is an essential step for ensuring all web communications are encrypted. By using HTTPS to prevent interception.

Unsecured Communications

Make sure to avoid using banking or e-commerce websites through unsecured connections or public Wi-Fi.

Ensure Proper Logout

One must ensure that they have logged out of the web-based application or browser after completing their session. 

Checking Proper Notification

One must be vigilant about checking the notifications of the browser to identify unsecured websites. 

Verification of  the authenticity of the browser or website

One must verify the authenticity of the browser or website before visiting or using it. 

Conclusion

Organizations need to encrypt web traffic by employing a virtual private network. An encrypted VPN prevents the attacker from infiltrating and modifying web traffic. Along with that, organizations must have incident response plans to prevent data loss. 

Organizations should employ intrusion detection systems to enhance network security and use encryption methodology to establish secure communication. Apart from technical standards, employee awareness is a crucial step in preventing MITM attacks.

Security awareness training is an essential way to prevent most of the cyberattacks. This helps to educate employees about the best security practices for enhancing the organization’s security posture. The cybersecurity training should also simulate various types of attacks to enhance employee’s identification and response capability in case of real-world attacks. By using these techniques organizations can minimize the chances of becoming victims of MITM attacks.

Frequently Asked Questions