Attacks on Networks

Apart from the attacks that we have described previously, other attacks can cause serious damage to network security:

• Masquerade/Spoofing Attacks: The network intruder masquerades the TCP/IP packet by an illegal IP address, falsifying the source address. The intruder fools the remote machine by an illegitimate source address but with valid user access privileges.
• HTTP Tunneling: This method may be used by the insiders to overcome the firewall controls and send confidential information to the outside world without anyone inside being aware of it.
• SSH Tunneling: Used to directly connect to a network stealthily and initiate attacks. This is an illegitimate use of a legitimate tool.
• Session Hijacking: A session between the user and the server can be hijacked (= taken over) by the attacker.
• Attacks on Network Equipment: Equipment, such as routers, is traditionally prone to default password vulnerabilities because the network administrators not taking sufficient care in resetting these passwords. The weakness of the network configurations of a router is a new point of vulnerability.