Address Resolution Protocol Spoofing (ARP Spoofing)

Last Updated: April 6, 2017

Definition - What does Address Resolution Protocol Spoofing (ARP Spoofing) mean?

Address resolution protocol (ARP) spoofing is a technique that causes the redirection of network traffic to a hacker. Spoofing may denote sniffing out LAN addresses on both wired and wireless LAN networks. The concept behind this type of spoofing is to send bogus ARP communications to Ethernet LANs and the attack may modify traffic or block it altogether.

ARP spoofing is also known as an ARP redirect.

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Techopedia explains Address Resolution Protocol Spoofing (ARP Spoofing)

There are three types of ARP spoofing:

Man-In-The-Middle Attacks: These involve traffic modifications.
Denial-of-Service Attacks: These involve a fake MAC address attached to the user’s default gateway.
Passive Sniffing: This happens when traffic is sent to the user’s default gateway through their IP address.

There also are useful, non-malicious usages for ARP spoofing, such as hotels utilizing the technique to allow guests to access the Internet from their laptops.