gen-define-a-man-in-the-middle-attack-and-give-one-short-worked-b455

Define a man-in-the-middle attack and give one short worked example.

# Man-in-the-Middle Attack ## Definition A **man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack** is a cyberattack where an attacker secretly intercepts and potentially alters communications between two parties who believe they are communicating directly with each other. ## Worked Example: Coffee Shop Wi-Fi Attack **Scenario:** 1. Alice connects to what she thinks is "CoffeeShop_WiFi" at her local café 2. The attacker (Mallory) has created a fake access point also named "CoffeeShop_WiFi" 3. Alice's device connects to Mallory's rogue access point instead 4. Alice tries to log into her bank account at `http://mybank.com` (unencrypted HTTP) 5. Mallory's device intercepts the login request, captures Alice's username and password 6. Mallory forwards the request to the real bank server, so Alice doesn't suspect anything 7. The bank's response goes back through Mallory, who can now see Alice's account balance and activities 8. Mallory now has Alice's credentials and can access her account later **Result:** Alice completed her banking session unaware that Mallory intercepted everything and stole her credentials. **Prevention:** Using HTTPS (encrypted connections), VPNs, and verifying network authenticity helps prevent such attacks.