Which element of the CIA triad is most directly violated when an attacker performs a successful man-in-the-middle attack and modifies messages in transit?
A CISSP practice question covering Domain 1: Security and Risk Management. Try answering before reading the explanation below.
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Why "Integrity" is the right answer
Modifying messages in transit alters the data, which is a direct violation of integrity. Confidentiality could be a secondary concern if the attacker also reads the data, but the defining violation when content is changed is integrity. Authentication is not part of the CIA triad.
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