Which statement about MITM attacks is correct?

• A. Access to the local network is required.
• B. Access to the local network is not required.
• C. MITM attacks can occur without any network access.
• D. Only remote networks are at risk of MITM.

Answer: (A)

MITM attacks hinge on placing the attacker between two communicating parties so they can observe or modify the traffic. To do that, the attacker must be able to intercept the data as it travels from one host to the other, which typically means having access to a point on the communication path. In everyday practice this is on the local network—think ARP spoofing on a LAN or setting up a rogue wireless access point—where the attacker can directly see and potentially alter packets before they reach their destination. Without some network access to intercept traffic, there’s no path for observation or manipulation, so MITM cannot occur in an isolated system. While there are more complex, infrastructure‑level scenarios where interception happens somewhere along the broader network, the common, straightforward requirement captured here is that local network access is needed.