Man-In-The-Middle Fraud

A “man-in-the-middle fraud” refers to a situation in which we’re sending our private info out over the internet, and some unauthorized third party swoops in and steals it. This type of fraud has become more and more common in the digital age: malware, viruses, hackers, and generally unwise use of shady wifi sources all contribute to its prevalence.

Here’s just one example of a man-in-the-middle fraud in action:

Unbeknownst to us, a keyboard logger has been downloaded onto our computer. One day, we innocently go to our bank’s website and type in our login info. All we want to do is pay some bills, but that keyboard logger has recorded our login ID and password and sent it off to someone else. That someone else now has the ability to log into our account and clean it out before we even realize what’s happening.

Is this illegal? Absolutely. Is this also terrifying? Maybe a little bit. That’s why it’s super important to take precautions to protect our digital world. Run the virus scan. Create the super-complicated password and change it every so often. Be careful with what we access on those public WiFi networks. It all might seem a little paranoid now, but it won’t seem that way after we manage to thwart a would-be man-in-the-middle attack.