Which attack type involves monitoring traffic with no changes to it?

Which attack type involves monitoring traffic with no changes to it?

• A. Passive
• B. Active
• C. Replay
• D. Spoofing

Answer: (A)

In security, attacks are often split into passive and active. A passive attack is all about observing and gathering information from the network without changing the traffic at all. The attacker eavesdrops, sniffs, or analyzes data to learn things like passwords, usernames, or network patterns, while the data flow remains untouched. That’s why monitoring traffic with no changes to it is described as a passive attack. The other options involve altering or injecting data: active attacks modify the stream, replay captures and resends data, and spoofing impersonates another device or user, which is also an active form of interference.

In security, attacks are often split into passive and active. A passive attack is all about observing and gathering information from the network without changing the traffic at all. The attacker eavesdrops, sniffs, or analyzes data to learn things like passwords, usernames, or network patterns, while the data flow remains untouched.

That’s why monitoring traffic with no changes to it is described as a passive attack. The other options involve altering or injecting data: active attacks modify the stream, replay captures and resends data, and spoofing impersonates another device or user, which is also an active form of interference.