As an SOC analyst, which traffic protocol should be investigated for a suspected On-Path attack?

Investigating an On-Path attack (also known as a Man-in-the-Middle attack) requires focusing on protocols that facilitate the interception and manipulation of data in transit. In this context, ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) is particularly significant because it is used to map IP addresses to MAC addresses within a local network.

On-Path attacks often exploit vulnerabilities in ARP to intercept traffic meant for another device. An attacker can perform ARP spoofing, where they send forged ARP messages over a network. This can lead to traffic interception, allowing the attacker to eavesdrop or even alter data being transmitted.

While protocols like ICMP, POP3, and IPv6 play roles in network communication, they do not have the same level of vulnerability to On-Path attacks as ARP does, mainly because they do not directly facilitate the mapping of IP to MAC addresses in a local network environment. This specificity makes ARP the key focus for investigation in suspected On-Path attacks.