SSL stripping is a type of man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack where an attacker intercepts traffic between a user and a website and downgrades the connection from HTTPS to HTTP. This allows the attacker to see and potentially modify any information exchanged between the user and the website.
To protect against SSL stripping, there are a few measures that can be taken:
1. Always check for the padlock icon in the browser address bar to ensure that the connection is using HTTPS.
1. Use a browser extension, such as HTTPS Everywhere, which forces websites to use HTTPS wherever possible.
1. Educate yourself and others on the dangers of clicking on untrusted links or entering sensitive information on non-HTTPS websites.
1. Use a virtual private network (VPN) or a secure proxy to encrypt your internet traffic and protect against attackers who may be attempting SSL stripping.
1. Set up HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) on the website side, which enforces the use of HTTPS connections to prevent downgrades to HTTP.
Technical description of the process:
1. The attacker establishes a connection with the user and the website. The connection initially uses HTTPS.
1. The attacker intercepts the traffic and alters the responses from the website to remove references to HTTPS, effectively downgrading the connection to HTTP.
1. The attacker creates a fake SSL certificate, which the user’s browser accepts since the connection is now over HTTP.
1. The attacker can now see and potentially modify any information exchanged between the user and the website.
1. The user may be unaware that their connection is no longer secure, since the browser does not display any warning messages when downgraded from HTTPS to HTTP.
