What Is The Aim Of An Arp Spoofing Attack?
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What Is the Aim of An Arp Spoofing Attack?
Answer:
In the ARP spoofing attack, a malicious host interrupts the ARP request and depends on them so that the host of the network will map the address to the MAC addresses of the malicious host.
What is the address resolution protocol?
ARP is a protocol that allows network communications to reach particular devices on the network. Address resolution protocol (ARP) translates the internet protocol address to the media access control (MAC) and vice versa. Most commonly, the connection of ARP to the gateway or router is the devices that allow them to link to the internet.
The responsibilities of the host are to maintain a mapping table between the internet protocol addresses and the media access addresses, maintain an ARP cache, and use the addresses to connect to their destinations on the network. If the host does not know the media access address for a particular IP address, it sends out the address resolution protocol request packet. It asks the other machines on the network to match the MAC address.
ARP protocol is not responsible for security, so it does not a concern to verify whether the response of the request comes from the authorized party or not. Even if the request is not sent it allows the host to accept the ARP response. This is the weakest point of the ARP protocol that allows the ARP spoofing attackers.
In the IPv4 protocol, ARP works on the 32-bit IP addresses. The new versions of protocol IPv6 use a different protocol. NDP (neighbor discovery protocol) is safe, and secure and uses the coded keys to verify the host identity. However, still, most of the older IPv4 protocols are used by the internet. Address resolution protocols are still widely in use.
Spoofing:
It is an attack that a third party into the internet protocol network trying to falsify the original data. It means that the original data is swept with the falsified data by doing some modification. The IP protocol does not use any authentic mechanism to verify the person. If one application does not verify the authorized user, many spoofing attacks may occur. There are two different types of spoofing attacks. Which are,
Address resolution protocol (ARP) spoofing or ARP poisoning:
An ARP poisoning or also called ARP spoofing allows the attackers to interrupt the communication between two network devices. The attack work in the following way,
Network access:
Malicious attackers have access to the network. They scan the network to know the internet protocol address of at least two devices. Consider the two devices are a router and a workstation.
Spoofing tool:
Spoofing tools are also used by the attackers such as Driftnet, and Arps proof, to send out the build ARP response.
The forged response displays that the MAC address is correct for both IP addresses that relate to both the router and the workstation. It is the attacker’s MAC address. This fools both devices and connects to the attackers’ MAC addresses instead of connecting.
ARP cache:
ARP cache entries are updated in two devices and from onward, they communicate with the attackers instead of with each other.
Man in the middle:
Attackers are now a man in the middle of all conversations. It pretends to be both sides of a communication channel.
What attackers can do?
After the attackers are successful in the ARP spoofing attack. They can do all sorts of things like,
Alteration in communication:
For example, it pushes a malicious file to the workstation.
Hijacking:
if the attackers were able to access the session ID. In this way, they have access to the hosting account that is currently logged into.
Routing the communication:
The attackers steal the data and packets. But there is an exception if the file is transferred over the encoded channel like HTTPS.
DDoS (distributed denial of service):
The attackers provide the media access protocol to the server with the DDoS they wish to attack. Instead of their machines being affected. The target server will be hit with traffic if they attack with a large number of internet protocol addresses.
Detection:
Here is the important question of how to detect the attacks. Here is a very simple detail to detect the ARP cache poisoning attack by using the command line. Given below the commands are given to follow on both windows and Linux.
If the table display two different IP address have the same media access address it indicates that an ARP attack has occurred. Because the 192. 168.5.1 can be recognized as a router and the IP address for the attackers is probably 192.168.5.202.
You can use the open-source Wireshark protocol to identify ARP poisoning in a large network. Also, use to obtain more information about the communications the attackers are taking place.
Prevention:
A few important practices that can help to prevent attacks on the network are given below.
Use stable ARP:
You need to define a stable ARP entry for an IP address. And prevent all the ARP responses for that particular address. For example, if your workstation always links to the same router then define a stable ARP entry for that router. In this way, attacks can be prevented.
VPN:
A virtual private network enables the devices to connect to the router through a coded tunnel. This makes all the communication encoded and worthless for attackers.
Packet filtering:
With the use of packet filtering, it can identify poisoned attacks by pointing out that they contain contradictory information. It stops this information before they reach your system.
Mount a spoofing attack:
Make sure the existing defenses are working or not against attacks. Always coordinate with the security and IT teams. If the attack takes place, then identify the weakest point in your system and remediate them.
Aims of ARP poisoning attack:
Some attackers have intentions to create a foundation for harmful effects in the future. The attack defines the intention of attackers, like
Final words:
The cyber-world is full of risks. There are no lame excuses that are acceptable or show a lenient attitude towards cyber security. ARP attack is a very serious cyber rime that can harm many people beyond imagination. Adopting a good prevention method and a proactive approach solves this issue in the initial stage.