Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) Attack

A man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack is one in which an attacker secretly places themselves between two parties who think they are talking directly to each other, such as a user and a bank's website. The attacker can then read, steal or change the data passing between them.

MITM attacks often happen on public or fake Wi-Fi hotspots, or through techniques such as ARP spoofing and DNS spoofing. Encryption with HTTPS/TLS and checking certificates are the main defences. Avoid entering passwords on public Wi-Fi without HTTPS, never ignore browser certificate warnings and use a trusted VPN on untrusted networks.