Which statement best differentiates Passive vs Active session hijacking?

Which statement best differentiates Passive vs Active session hijacking?

• A. Passive involves observing traffic; Active involves taking over by injection or participation
• B. Passive involves taking over by injecting; Active involves observing only
• C. Both require phishing to succeed
• D. Both are the same

Answer: (A)

Understanding the difference between passive and active session hijacking hinges on whether the attacker merely observes the session or actually takes control of it. In a passive scenario, the attacker watches the network traffic and captures session identifiers like tokens or cookies without altering the session or engaging with the victim’s actions. The aim is to learn information or set up a future use of the session, while staying largely unseen. In contrast, an active scenario involves stepping into the session and taking control—this can be done by injecting forged packets, replaying a captured token, or impersonating the user to issue commands and perform actions within that session. The distinction is that passive is observation-only, while active is manipulation and control of the session. The other statements don’t fit because hijacking doesn’t require phishing to succeed, and it’s not the same as passive observation or a single, uniform process.

Understanding the difference between passive and active session hijacking hinges on whether the attacker merely observes the session or actually takes control of it. In a passive scenario, the attacker watches the network traffic and captures session identifiers like tokens or cookies without altering the session or engaging with the victim’s actions. The aim is to learn information or set up a future use of the session, while staying largely unseen. In contrast, an active scenario involves stepping into the session and taking control—this can be done by injecting forged packets, replaying a captured token, or impersonating the user to issue commands and perform actions within that session. The distinction is that passive is observation-only, while active is manipulation and control of the session. The other statements don’t fit because hijacking doesn’t require phishing to succeed, and it’s not the same as passive observation or a single, uniform process.