Sniffing attack in context of network security, corresponds to

theft Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shor ...

or interception of data by capturing the

network traffic Network traffic or data traffic is the amount of data moving across a network at a given point of time. Network data in computer networks is mostly encapsulated in network packets, which provide the load in the network. Network traffic is the main ...

using a

packet sniffer A packet analyzer (also packet sniffer or network analyzer) is a computer program or computer hardware such as a packet capture appliance that can Traffic analysis, analyze and Logging (computing), log traffic that passes over a computer netwo ...

(an application aimed at capturing

network packet In telecommunications and computer networking, a network packet is a formatted unit of Data (computing), data carried by a packet-switched network. A packet consists of control information and user data; the latter is also known as the ''Payload ...

s). When data is transmitted across networks, if the data packets are not encrypted, the data within the network packet can be read using a sniffer. Using a sniffer application, an attacker can analyze the network and gain information to eventually cause the network to crash or to become corrupted, or read the communications happening across the network.

General

Sniffing attacks can be compared to tapping of phone wires and get to know about the conversation, and for this reason, it is also referred as

wiretapping Wiretapping, also known as wire tapping or telephone tapping, is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connecti ...

applied to

computer network A computer network is a collection of communicating computers and other devices, such as printers and smart phones. In order to communicate, the computers and devices must be connected by wired media like copper cables, optical fibers, or b ...

s. Using sniffing tools, attackers can sniff sensitive information from a network, including

email Electronic mail (usually shortened to email; alternatively hyphenated e-mail) is a method of transmitting and receiving Digital media, digital messages using electronics, electronic devices over a computer network. It was conceived in the ...

(SMTP, POP, IMAP),

web Web most often refers to: * Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal * World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to: Computing * WEB, a literate programming system created by ...

(HTTP),

FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and dat ...

(Telnet authentication, FTP Passwords, SMB, NFS) and many more types of

. The packet sniffer usually sniffs the network data without making any modifications in the network's packets. Packet sniffers can just watch, display, and log the traffic, and this information can be accessed by the attacker.

Prevention

To prevent networks from sniffing attacks, organizations and individual users should keep away from applications that are using insecure protocols, like basic HTTP authentication, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and

Telnet Telnet (sometimes stylized TELNET) is a client-server application protocol that provides access to virtual terminals of remote systems on local area networks or the Internet. It is a protocol for bidirectional 8-bit communications. Its main ...

. Instead, secure protocols such as

HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It uses encryption for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protoc ...

, Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), and

Secure Shell The Secure Shell Protocol (SSH Protocol) is a cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network. Its most notable applications are remote login and command-line execution. SSH was designed for ...

(SSH) should be preferred. In case there is a necessity for using any insecure protocol in any application, all the data transmission should be encrypted. If required, VPN (Virtual Private Networks) can be used to provide secure access to users.

References

{{reflist Computer network security

General

Prevention

See also

References