Why would a replay attack be considered a threat to integrity and not confidentiality

Question

Replay attacks involve reusing intercepted data, why are these attacks classified as threats to data integrity rather than to confidentiality?

Answer 1

A replay attack involves an attacker intercepting legitimate data transmissions and retransmitting them to deceive the recipient into unauthorized actions. This type of attack is primarily considered a threat to data integrity rather than confidentiality for the following reasons:

1. Data Integrity: Ensuring that data remains accurate, consistent, and unaltered during transmission.

Impact of Replay Attacks: By retransmitting intercepted data, attackers can cause systems to process the same legitimate transaction multiple times, potentially leading to unauthorized actions such as duplicate payments or repeated commands. This compromises the integrity of the data and the system's operations.

2. Confidentiality: Protecting information from unauthorized access or disclosure.

Impact of Replay Attacks: In a replay attack, the attacker does not gain new information; they merely reuse existing data. Since the data was already accessible to the attacker, the attack does not compromise the confidentiality of the information.

In summary, while replay attacks do not breach confidentiality, they pose a significant threat to data integrity by allowing unauthorized retransmission of legitimate data, leading to potential system malfunctions or unauthorized actions.