Editing Passive attack (section)

== Attributes ==
*Traffic analysis
*Non-evasive [[eavesdropping]] and monitoring of transmissions<ref name="smashing"/>
*Because data unaffected, tricky to detect
*Emphasis on prevention ([[encryption]]) not detection
*Sometimes referred to as "tapping"

The main types of passive attacks are traffic analysis and release of message contents.

During a traffic analysis attack, the eavesdropper analyzes the traffic, determines the location, identifies communicating hosts and observes the frequency and length of exchanged messages. He uses all this information to predict the nature of communication. All incoming and outgoing traffic of the network is analyzed, but not altered.

For a release of message content, a telephonic conversation, an E-mail message or a transferred file may contain confidential data. A passive attack monitors the contents of the transmitted data.

Passive attacks are very difficult to detect because they do not involve any alteration of the data. When the messages are exchanged neither the sender nor the receiver is aware that a third party may capture the messages. This can be prevented by encryption of data.

A recent study on the cybersecurity of wearable devices used passive attacks on different smartwatches to test whether they have significant vulnerabilities and whether they are the best targets during the pairing process.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Silva-Trujillo |first1=Alejandra Guadalupe |last2=González González |first2=Mauricio Jacobo |last3=Rocha Pérez |first3=Luis Pablo |last4=García Villalba |first4=Luis Javier |date=January 2023 |title=Cybersecurity Analysis of Wearable Devices: Smartwatches Passive Attack |journal=Sensors |language=en |volume=23 |issue=12 |pages=5438 |doi=10.3390/s23125438 |issn=1424-8220 |pmc=10301545 |pmid=37420605 |bibcode=2023Senso..23.5438S |doi-access=free }}</ref>