Which technique uses ARP-based strategies to detect sniffers by manipulating the ARP cache?

Which technique uses ARP-based strategies to detect sniffers by manipulating the ARP cache?

• A. Ping Method
• B. ARP Method
• C. Packet Capture
• D. Social engineering

Answer: (B)

Manipulating the ARP cache is a direct way to probe for sniffers because ARP is how devices on a local network discover who owns which MAC address for a given IP. By carefully altering ARP entries (for example, for the gateway or a target host) you can create controlled discrepancies in how traffic should be delivered. Watching how devices respond to those discrepancies and whether a monitoring host (sniffer) in the path reacts can reveal the presence of a sniffer. If a sniffer is actively capturing traffic, it will be affected by or reveal the forged ARP mappings in predictable ways, whereas other approaches that don’t involve ARP won’t expose this behavior. In short, this approach leverages ARP behavior itself to detect sniffers, which is why it’s the correct choice.

Manipulating the ARP cache is a direct way to probe for sniffers because ARP is how devices on a local network discover who owns which MAC address for a given IP. By carefully altering ARP entries (for example, for the gateway or a target host) you can create controlled discrepancies in how traffic should be delivered. Watching how devices respond to those discrepancies and whether a monitoring host (sniffer) in the path reacts can reveal the presence of a sniffer. If a sniffer is actively capturing traffic, it will be affected by or reveal the forged ARP mappings in predictable ways, whereas other approaches that don’t involve ARP won’t expose this behavior. In short, this approach leverages ARP behavior itself to detect sniffers, which is why it’s the correct choice.