A man-in-the-middle attack happens when someone secretly places themselves between two parties that are communicating, for example between your laptop and your bank's website, to read or change what they send. It is common on unprotected public Wi-Fi and is prevented with encrypted connections such as HTTPS and VPNs.
Related term in this glossary: Packet sniffing
MitM, MITM attack, adversary in the middle, AiTM, interception attack
Related terms
Pharming
Pharming is an attack that sends people to a fake website even when they type the correct address of the real one, by tampering with DNS or the device's settings. Unlike phishing, it does not need the victim to click a deceptive link, which makes it harder to notice.
Lateral movement
Lateral movement is the stage of an attack in which the intruder, after getting into one device, jumps to other devices and servers on the same network looking for accounts with more privileges or valuable information. Detecting it early makes it possible to contain the incident before it reaches critical systems.
Insider threat
An insider threat is a risk that comes from people who already have legitimate access to company systems, such as employees, former employees or vendors. It can be intentional, like copying a customer database before resigning, or accidental, like sending a confidential file to the wrong person.
Cyberattack
A cyberattack is any deliberate attempt to break into devices, networks or systems without permission to steal information, disrupt operations or demand payment. It can arrive as a phishing email, malware, a stolen password or a flood of traffic, and it often combines several techniques across different stages.
SQL injection
SQL injection is an attack in which someone types database commands into a website form or URL so the application runs them. If the site does not validate what it receives, the attacker can read, change or delete information such as customer lists or passwords without having an authorized account.
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