Ethical Hacking Essentials Practice Test

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Prepare for the Ethical Hacking Essentials Test. Dive into flashcards and multiple choice questions, with hints and explanations for each one. Ace your exam!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

What kind of attack does a man-in-the-middle exploit?

Direct disruption of service
Eavesdropping on and modifying communications
Attack using malware to infect devices
Bypassing firewall protections

The correct answer is: Eavesdropping on and modifying communications

A man-in-the-middle attack specifically involves an unauthorized party intercepting and potentially altering the communications between two entities without their knowledge. This type of attack allows the intruder to eavesdrop on the conversation, capturing sensitive information, and even manipulate data being exchanged, effectively presenting themselves as both parties to each other. For instance, in a scenario where two users are communicating over a network, a man-in-the-middle can intercept messages between them, read those messages, and then modify them before relaying them. This dual capability of interception and alteration is what uniquely characterizes this attack, making the given choice the most accurate representation of the threat posed by a man-in-the-middle. The other options describe different types of security threats. Direct disruption of service typically corresponds to denial-of-service attacks, which aim to make a system unavailable. Attacks using malware to infect devices are more related to traditional virus or Trojan threats, while bypassing firewall protections refers to methods employed to evade network security measures. Each of these attacks approaches security in a manner distinct from the eavesdropping and modification characteristic of a man-in-the-middle attack.