Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) Attack
A Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack is a cyber attack where an attacker secretly intercepts and possibly alters the communication between two parties who believe they are directly communicating with each other.
The attacker positions themselves in the communication's path, making it seem like a normal exchange is happening, while in reality, they are controlling the entire conversation.
Man-in-the-middle attacks offer hackers a path to intercept sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, and bank account details. It's dangerous because the user has no idea there is another presence between them and the application they're interacting with or that their data is rerouting to a malicious party.
Once a criminal has this information, they can manipulate account credentials, steal funds, or make unauthorized purchases.