Table 11-2 Common Threats
ThreatDescriptionM
an- in
th
e-
m
id
dl
e
at
ta
ck
Attackers insert themselves between two endpoints
(such as a browser and a web server) and intercept or
modify communications between the two. The attackers
can then collect information as well as impersonate
either of the two agents. In addition to websites, these
attacks can target email communications, DNS lookups,
and public Wi-Fi networks.D
en
ial- of
se
rv
ic
e
(D
oS
)
at
ta
ck
An attacker sends multiple requests that flood the
server or networks with traffic to exhaust resources and
bandwidth. As the system continues with degraded
performance, the system becomes more and more
nonresponsive, and real requests are left unfulfilled. A
DoS attack can be coordinated so that multiple devices
launch the attack at the same time. This is known as a
distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack.Cr
os
s-
sit
e
sc
ri
pt
in
g
(X
SS
)Cross-site scripting is an exploit in which the attacker
attaches code to a legitimate website that executes when
the victim loads that website. Typically, a web page is
loaded, and malicious code copies the user’s cookies.
The system then sends an HTTP request to an attacker’s
web server, with the stolen cookies in the body of the
request. The attacker can then use cookies to access
sensitive data.