Layer 2 malicious attacks are typically launched by a device
connected to the campus network. This can be a physical rogue device placed on
the network for malicious purposes or an external intrusion that takes control
of and launches attacks from a trusted device. In either case, the network sees
all traffic as originating from a legitimate connected device.
Attacks
launched against switches and at Layer 2 can be grouped as follows:
- MAC Layer Attacks
- VLAN Attacks
- Spoof Attacks
- Attacks on Switch Devices
Significant attacks in these categories, known as of this writing, are
discussed in further detail in subsequent sections of the course. Each attack
method is associated with a standard measure that should be taken to mitigate
the associated known security compromise.