Real-World Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) Attack Implementation Using Open Source Tools for Instructional Use

Abstract

Cybersecurity is becoming more significant with the increased reliance on the internet; and wireless networks like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. There are many vulnerabilities in the cyber world which the attackers are exploiting. One such attack is Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) attack. Man-In-The-Middle (MITM) is one of the primary attacks employed in computer-based hacking. In this paper, we will discuss how the attacker performs the Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack using the open source Ettercap tool in Kali Linux environment. Ettercap tool is a sniffing tool available in the Kali Linux operating system. It is used to perform sniffing, using Man-in-the-middle attack and other attacks like DDOS attack, packet filtering, DNS spoofing, etc. This paper attempts to implement this attack for instructional use in an academic setup for teaching a foundational cybersecurity course.