200-201 Question 147
Select 2An attacker sets up a rogue access point to intercept communications between a user and a legitimate web service. The attacker then forwards the communication to the legitimate service while modifying data in transit. What type of attack is this, and what service should be implemented to detect or prevent such an attack?
- A
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack; implement Transport Layer Security (TLS)
- B
Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack; implement Intrusion Detection System (IDS)
- C
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack; implement HTTPS and certificate validation
- D
Phishing attack; implement user education and awareness
- E
Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack; implement a Secure Web Gateway (SWG)
Show answer and explanation
Correct answers: A, C
Explanation
A Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack occurs when an attacker intercepts and possibly alters communication between two parties. To mitigate this, TLS or HTTPS with certificate validation should be implemented to encrypt and authenticate the communication, ensuring data integrity and confidentiality. These measures prevent attackers from easily intercepting or modifying the data.
- A. Correct.
Correct: A Man-in-the-Middle attack involves intercepting and possibly altering communication between two parties. Using Transport Layer Security (TLS) ensures encryption and integrity of the data, making it harder for attackers to interfere.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect: A Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack involves overwhelming a service to make it unavailable, which is unrelated to intercepting communication. Additionally, while an IDS may detect anomalies, it does not specifically prevent MitM attacks.
- C. Correct.
Correct: Implementing HTTPS, which relies on TLS, along with certificate validation ensures that the communication is encrypted and that the server is authenticated, mitigating MitM attacks.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect: A phishing attack involves tricking a user into revealing sensitive information and is unrelated to MitM attacks. User education is useful for phishing but does not address MitM.
- E. Incorrect.
Incorrect: While Secure Web Gateways (SWG) can monitor and filter web traffic for security purposes, they are not specifically designed to prevent or detect MitM attacks.