How to prevent ‘Man-in-the-Middle Attack’?

Cyber Security
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The following practices prevent the ‘Man-in-the-Middle Attacks’:

  • Have stronger WAP/WEP Encryption on wireless access points avoids unauthorized users.
  • Use a VPN for a secure environment to protect sensitive information. It uses key-based encryption.
  • Public key pair-based authentication must be used in various layers of a stack for ensuring whether you are communicating the right things are not.
  • HTTPS must be employed for securely communicating over HTTP through the public-private key exchange.

Man-in-the-middle attacks (MITM) are a common type of cybersecurity attack that allows attackers to eavesdrop on the communication between two targets. The attack takes place in between two legitimately communicating hosts, allowing the attacker to “listen” to a conversation they should normally not be able to listen to, hence the name “man-in-the-middle.”

Here’s an analogy: Alice and Bob are having a conversation; Eve wants to eavesdrop on the conversation but also remain transparent. Eve could tell Alice that she was Bob and tell Bob that she was Alice. This would lead Alice to believe she’s speaking to Bob, while actually revealing her part of the conversation to Eve. Eve could then gather information from this, alter the response, and pass the message along to Bob (who thinks he’s talking to Alice). As a result, Eve is able to transparently hijack their conversation.

How to detect a man-in-the-middle attack

Detecting a Man-in-the-middle attack can be difficult without taking the proper steps. If you aren’t actively searching to determine if your communications have been intercepted, a Man-in-the-middle attack can potentially go unnoticed until it’s too late. Checking for proper page authentication and implementing some sort of tamper detection are typically the key methods to detect a possible attack, but these procedures might require extra forensic analysis after-the-fact.

It’s important to take precautionary measures to prevent MITM attacks before they occur, rather than attempting to detect them while they are actively occurring. Being aware of your browsing practices and recognizing potentially harmful areas can be essential to maintaining a secure network. Below, we have included five of the best practices to prevent MITM attacks from compromising your communications.