College
Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences
Date of Last Revision
2026-05-07 10:42:55
Major
Computer Information Systems
Honors Course
CISS 491-001
Number of Credits
3
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Date of Expected Graduation
Spring 2026
Abstract
Cybersecurity is a vast domain that consists of many threats that target sensitive information found on wired and wireless networks. One of those threats is a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack, which involves an attacker situating themselves between a sender and a receiver to intercept or redirect network traffic. These kinds of attacks can run rampant on a small office home office (SOHO) network due to the vulnerabilities and lack of enterprise level tools. The intent of this project is to perform and defend against MITM attacks for a SOHO network. In the context of the project, three MITM attacks will be performed those being ARP poisoning, DNS spoofing, and an evil twin attack. The attacks demonstrated will show how they work, but more importantly indicate why defensive measures must be put in place. The defensive measures will focus on options for small businesses or a home office instead of employing enterprise level tools. To begin, the project will take place in an isolated sandboxed network. This network will replicate a SOHO network that is limited to non-enterprise tools. For the ARP poisoning and DNS spoofing attacks, the Bettercap tool will be used. Both attacks will make it so the user’s data will be intercepted and redirected. The Aircrack-ng tool suite will allow the evil twin attack to occur. To mitigate these attacks, defenses will be put in place on the network and end devices. Some of the defensive measures that will be set include the configuration of dynamic ARP inspection (DAI), various monitoring tools, browser encryption methods and a remote access VPN. The result of this project will show how SOHO networks can protect themselves against MITM attacks while also raising awareness about them.
Research Sponsor
Nadhem Ebrahim
First Reader
John Hoag
Second Reader
Stanley Smith
Honors Faculty Advisor
Janet Kropff
Proprietary and/or Confidential Information
No
Community Engaged Scholarship
No
Recommended Citation
Wise, Braeden J., "Defending a SOHO Network against MITM Attacks" (2026). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 2218.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/2218