Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MitM)
What is Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MitM)?
An attack where a criminal secretly intercepts and potentially alters communication between two parties who believe they are talking directly to each other. Common examples include eavesdropping on unencrypted public Wi-Fi, intercepting email between a business and its bank, or redirecting DNS queries to fake websites. HTTPS, VPNs, and encrypted email protocols defend against MitM attacks.
Why public Wi-Fi is dangerous for business →
Why this matters for Canadian businesses
Understanding Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MitM) is part of building a security programme that meets the 13 Baseline Cyber Security Controls published by the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (ITSM.10.089) — the Government of Canada's recommended minimum standard for small and medium organizations. You can measure your organization against all 13 controls with our free cybersecurity assessment.
For the wider picture on how Canadian small and medium businesses are performing, see The Cybersecurity Canada Report 2026, our annual benchmark of incident rates, breach costs, and regulation affecting Canadian organizations.
Cite This Page
Suggested citation:
Cybersecurity Canada (2026). Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MitM). Retrieved from https://cybersecuritycanada.ca/glossary/man-in-the-middle/
Permanent URL: https://cybersecuritycanada.ca/glossary/man-in-the-middle/
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