What is sniffing?
Using sniffing tools, an attacker can monitor and capture packets passing through a network and spy on what is going on with internet activity.
Let's talk more specifically about what sniffing is and how to leverage it in an attack.
There are two types of wiretaps out there, as outlined here:
- Active wiretapping allows an attacker to manipulate and force themselves into the middle using a Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack, which allows the attacker to record and monitor traffic. As an active channel, it can allow the attacker to change the data flowing through or inject information. When it comes to ethical hacking, active means we're going to do something extremely aggressive by forcing a communication. You can see a depiction of a MITM attack in the following diagram:
Figure 10.1 – MITM attack