The described scenario is a textbook example of a Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack. In such attacks, the attacker stealthily places themselves between two communicating systems, intercepts their communications, and may even modify the traffic. The communicating parties remain unaware that their traffic is being monitored or altered.
Eric is using the Dsniff toolset, which is well-known for enabling MITM attacks through techniques such as:
ARP spoofing (to redirect traffic)
Credential sniffing
Packet manipulation
From CEH v13 Official Courseware:
Module 8: Sniffing
Module 11: Session Hijacking
CEH v13 Study Guide states:
“In a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack, the attacker intercepts and potentially alters the communication between two systems without either party knowing. Tools like Dsniff, Cain & Abel, and Ettercap are commonly used to launch such attacks.”
Incorrect Options:
A: “Interceptor” is not a technical term in cybersecurity.
C: ARP Proxy is a network feature; while ARP spoofing can be part of a MITM attack, it’s not the attack classification itself.
D: Poisoning (like DNS or ARP poisoning) is often a technique used to initiate MITM but not the final classification.
[Reference:CEH v13 Study Guide – Module 8: Sniffing → MITM Attacks Using DsniffRFC 4949 – Internet Security Glossary (Definition of MITM), , , , , ======, , ]