What is the difference between active and passive attacks?
Cyber-attacks have been termed as a criminal offense in the modern days. It has the capability of ruining business and individual life.
A lot of information is being stored online such as banking and medical information. Hackers have taken advantage of causing problems to many people across the world.
Active and passive attacks happen to be the two beasts of attack that many online people experience. The article provides information on the difference between active and passive attacks.
What Are Active Attacks?
An active attack is a security attack where the attacker has the effort to modify or change the content of the message.
The security attack poses a lot of danger on the integrity and availability of data. System resources can be changed due to damaged attacked systems.
The good news is that the victims being attacked get to be informed about the danger and they can take the right measures to prevent the attacks.
What Are Passive Attacks?
A passive attack is where the attacker can see the content of the message and even try to copy the message.
The type of attack tends to interfere with confidentiality but there is no harm posed to the system. Here victims are not aware of the attack process.
Comparison Chart: Active Attacks vs Passive Attacks
| Basic Terms | Active Attacks | Passive Attacks |
| Modification | Information tends to be changed | Information is never changed after attacking. |
| Dangers Posed | Interferes with integrity and availability of information. | Interferes with the confidentiality of the information. |
| Attention | Paid to the detection | Paid to the prevention |
| Impact on System | Do damage the systems | It does not damage the system. |
| Victim | Get informed | Are never informed |
| System Resources | Can be changed | Cannot be changed |
| Task performed by the attacker | The transmission is captured by physically controlling the portion of a link. | We need to observe the transmission. |
| Meaning | Tries to change the system resources or affect their operation. | Tries to read or make use of information from the system but does not influence system resources |
Core Difference between Active and Passive Attacks
- Active attack entails modification of message while the passive attack has no modification of message.
- The active attack poses huge harm to the system resources while passive attack does not cause any harm.
- Active attack interferes with the availability and integrity of information while passive attack interferes with confidentiality.
- The victim tends to be aware of active attack while passive attack victims are not aware of.
- Active attack entails gaining physical control over the communication link to capture and insert transmission whereas passive attack only needs to observe the transmission.
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Comparison Video
Final Verdict on Active Vs Passive Attacks
Active and passive attacks can only be differentiated on how they occur, impact on the information, and how they can be controlled.
The core differences between active and passive attacks provided in the guide are worth reading. Use the comment section to share your views about these two cyber-attacks.
More Sources and References
- Passive and Active Attacks: UK Essay
- Passive Attack. Wikipedia
- Active and Passive Attacks. Google Books