<P> In cryptography and computer security , a man - in - the - middle attack ( MITM ; also Janus attack ) is an attack where the attacker secretly relays and possibly alters the communication between two parties who believe they are directly communicating with each other . One example of man - in - the - middle attacks is active eavesdropping , in which the attacker makes independent connections with the victims and relays messages between them to make them believe they are talking directly to each other over a private connection , when in fact the entire conversation is controlled by the attacker . The attacker must be able to intercept all relevant messages passing between the two victims and inject new ones . This is straightforward in many circumstances ; for example , an attacker within reception range of an unencrypted wireless access point ( Wi - Fi ) could insert himself as a man - in - the - middle . </P>
man-in-the-middle attacks are which type of network attack
the attacker secretly relays and possibly alters the communication between two parties who believe they are directly communicating with each other