Sun. Jan 22nd, 2023

Passive attacks

Passive attacks are those that arise through monitoring or scanning communications, information flow and systems. Due to the lack of physical action, passive attacks are difficult to identify and monitor.

Examples include:

  • Tapping (monitoring unencrypted communications, for example tapping a phone line)
  • Encryption (intercepting encrypted information and attempting to break the encryption)
  • Scanning (scanning a device for vulnerabilities or open ports)
  • Traffic analysis (monitoring traffic to build up a picture of how the network is being used)