You might have heard this quote from different medical advertisements, prevention is better than cure, and that is true, not only does it apply in health but also in our security protocols.
Cybersecurity has continued to grow and adapt to changes of modernization, where cybercrime has increased and enhanced its method of attack. The best way to protect our cyberspace is through prevention.
This can be done by keeping yourself updated on the latest trend of attacks and the latest security softwares. It is always best to promote awareness and good network security practices among the end-users.
In this article, as part of our cybersecurity awareness, we will be learning about the different types of sniffing attacks.
Sniffing Attacks
Sniffing in this context is defined as the process of supervising and collecting different data packets that run through a computer network by using packet sniffers.
A packet sniffer is software that most administrators use to monitor the data traffic passing through. Another term for this is the network protocol analyzer.
This can be an advantage to a company that has large loads of data traffic that needs to be supervised, however, this can be a disadvantage in the hands of illegal hackers. Using the same concept, illegal hackers can use this to capture data packets in a network for malicious purposes.
The data packets that are collected from the network are used for extraction and stealing vital information like bank accounts, usernames, passwords, and digital asset information.
In order for attackers to access the target network system, they must first place a sniffing tool through software or hardware installation.
The most used sniffing tools in the market are WinDump, BetterCAP, Ettercap, Wireshark, and Tcpdump.
Sniffing and Spoofing
A lot of users get confused between sniffing and spoofing. But both of these terms are different from each other.
Sniffing attack is done through listening into a network data traffic and collecting the data packets through packet sniffers.
Where in spoofing, attackers will steal the user credentials and use it as if it was the user himself. Another term for spoofing is ‘man in the middle attack’, from the phrase itself, the attacker placed himself between the user and the system.
Different Types of Sniffing Attacks
The two known types of sniffing attacks are ‘active’ and ‘passive’.
Active sniffing is done on a switched network with a switch device to connect the two devices. This enables the use of media access control to send the information in an intended port or device.
A hacker can take advantage of this technique by loading traffic into the LAN as it enables sniffing.
Passive sniffing is done using hubs. It is quite similar to switches but it uses the MAC address to locate the end ports of data. The hacker can access the network through the LAN and they can then sniff data traffic within the network.
When sniffing is enabled, the hackers can look into your DNS traffic, router configuration, email traffic, web traffic, FTP passwords, tenet passwords, and chat sessions.
Sniffing Attack Prevention
Sniffing attacks can be preventive when you refrain from using untrusted networks, encryption of data files and information, make use of network scanning tools, and practice proper monitoring of data.
You can also seek the expertise of an ethical hacker or cybersecurity firm for help.
Career Opportunity
Cybercrimes happen when we least expect it and when our network is at most vulnerable. Sniffing attacks are just one of many methods that can be used to acquire information and penetrate a network system.
If you are interested in learning how to protect your home, business, or company network, you can enroll in our online cybersecurity course program at RCyberSolutions.
