WiFi man-in-the-middle attack

A man-in-the-middle attack occurs when an attacker places a device between you and a service and then intercepts or alters your traffic. Public Wi‑Fi hotspots are common targets because many of them run without encryption and announce themselves to every nearby device. Attackers can set up a counterfeit access point that mirrors the real network and then wait for users to connect and reveal sensitive data. When you log into an online wallet or financial account over an untrusted network, those credentials can be captured and replayed by the attacker. Cookie theft lets an intruder impersonate your browser by stealing session tokens and thus bypassing login forms without needing your password. Malware can also be planted through insecure connections so that devices carrying recovered keys or password files are later abused. Man‑in‑the‑middle attacks often work quietly and for long stretches because the malicious node can forward traffic to the genuine network after grabbing what it needs. Basic protections on the web such as TLS and certificate validation reduce the risk by proving server identity, but attackers have historically abused weak certificate authorities or flaws in browser behavior to defeat such checks. Network tamper detection and traffic analysis can reveal anomalies, yet these tools are not foolproof for everyday users on the move. For anyone who stores or transacts crypto, the safest habit is simple: avoid accessing wallets or secret data on public Wi‑Fi. Use a hardware wallet that keeps private keys off the internet and that requires final transaction approval on the physical device, because signing offline prevents a network snoop from taking your keys. A trustworthy VPN provides an encrypted tunnel that makes interception far harder, and two‑factor authentication adds a second barrier if credentials leak. Do not keep recovery phrases, PINs, or password lists in plain files on laptops or phones that connect to public networks. Keep systems patched, prefer mobile data when possible for sensitive operations, and heed certificate warnings from your browser. Even a small set of layered defenses will reduce the chance that a creative attacker standing in an airport or café will walk away with your funds or identity.