What Is a Replay Attack?
A replay attack is a type of cyberattack in which an attacker captures and replays valid data transmissions to gain unauthorized access or disrupt services. The goal of the attack is to fool the target system into believing that it has received legitimate information from a trusted source, allowing the attacker to bypass authentication protocols and gain access to sensitive data or resources.
Replay attacks are most commonly used against network-based authentication systems such as Kerberos, but they can also be used against other types of communication protocols including wireless networks, email servers, and even telephone systems. Attackers may use packet sniffing tools to capture packets containing login credentials or other sensitive information before replaying them back at their targets. In some cases, attackers may modify captured packets before sending them in order to increase their chances of success. Replay attacks can be difficult for organizations to detect since they appear as normal traffic on the network; however, there are measures that organizations can take such as implementing encryption techniques and using two-factor authentication methods in order to protect themselves from these types of threats.