Security Intermediate

What is Man-in-the-Middle Attack?

An attack where the attacker secretly intercepts and potentially alters communication between two parties who believe they are communicating directly.

MITM attackers position themselves between client and server, intercepting all traffic. On unencrypted networks, they can read passwords, session tokens, and sensitive data. Advanced attacks can intercept HTTPS by presenting fake certificates.

Prevention includes HTTPS everywhere, certificate pinning, HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security), secure WiFi (WPA3), VPNs on public networks, and validating certificate chains. Public WiFi is particularly vulnerable to MITM attacks.

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Related Terms

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

A security method requiring two different forms of identification before granting access to an account.

Input Validation

The process of verifying that user-supplied data meets expected formats, types, and ranges before processing it.

CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing)

A browser security mechanism that controls which web domains can access resources from another domain via HTTP requests.

Penetration Testing

An authorized simulated cyberattack on a system to evaluate its security defenses and identify vulnerabilities.

WAF (Web Application Firewall)

A security solution that filters and monitors HTTP traffic between a web application and the internet, blocking common attacks.

A regularly updated list of the ten most critical web application security risks, published by the Open Web Application Security Project.

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