Editing Wiretapping (section)

{{short description|Third-party monitoring of electronic communications}}
{{redirect|Wiretap|the radio program|WireTap (radio program)|the listening device|Covert listening device}}
{{For|the method of telephone dialing by depressing the hook switch|Pulse dialing#Tapping}}

'''Wiretapping''', also known as '''wire tapping''' or '''telephone tapping''', is the [[Surveillance|monitoring]] of [[telephone]] and [[Internet]]-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitoring connection was an actual electrical tap on an analog telephone or telegraph line. Legal wiretapping by a [[government agency]] is also called [[lawful interception]]. '''Passive wiretapping''' monitors or records the traffic, while '''active wiretapping''' alters or otherwise affects it.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Computer security : art and science |last=Bishop |first=Matt |publisher=Addison-Wesley |year=2003 |isbn=0201440997 |location=Boston |chapter=1: An Overview of Computer Security |oclc=50251943 |access-date=2011-12-20 |chapter-url=http://nob.cs.ucdavis.edu/book/book-aands/aands01.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051222145350/http://nob.cs.ucdavis.edu/book/book-aands/aands01.pdf |archive-date=2005-12-22 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite IETF |title=Internet Security Glossary |rfc=4949 |pages=335–336 |last=Shirey |first=R. |date=August 2007 |publisher=[[Internet Engineering Task Force|IETF]] }}</ref>