Which term describes recording intercepted information and replaying it to the destination devices, similar to a MitM attack?

• A. Replay
• B. Spoofing
• C. Eavesdropping
• D. Sniffing

Answer: (A)

Capturing a legitimate message and then sending it again to the destination as if it came from the original sender is a replay attack. This happens when an attacker sits between two parties (a MitM scenario) and uses the recorded data to deceive the recipient into accepting something that appears authentic. This is different from simply listening to traffic (eavesdropping) or just impersonating a device or user (spoofing). Eavesdropping and sniffing involve observing or collecting data, not actively retransmitting it to disrupt or alter the conversation. Replay attacks exploit the fact that systems may accept a previously valid communication if it looks current, which is why defenses like nonces, timestamps, or challenge-response tokens are used to prove freshness and prevent reuse.