Distinguish sniffing from spoofing in network attacks.

• A. Spoofing impersonates another device or user to mislead hosts.
• B. Sniffing captures data on the network.
• C. Sniffing captures data on the network; spoofing impersonates another device or user to mislead hosts.
• D. Sniffing impersonates another device to mislead hosts.

Answer: (C)

Sniffing and spoofing address two different attacker goals on a network. Sniffing is about listening in and capturing data as it travels across the network, often passively, so the attacker can read contents, analyze traffic, or harvest credentials. Spoofing, on the other hand, is about pretending to be someone or something else—impersonating another device or user to mislead hosts and gain an advantage, access, or to redirect traffic. The option that says sniffing captures data on the network and spoofing impersonates another device or user to mislead hosts captures both aspects accurately, which is why it’s the best choice. For context, sniffing examples include using a packet sniffer like Wireshark to view unencrypted communications; spoofing examples include IP spoofing or ARP spoofing to make others believe traffic comes from a trusted source. The other choices describe only one of the two concepts or mix them in a misleading way.