SSL Stripping

EpicGlobalWeb

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I've seen demos on devices like the WiFi Pineapple where SSL can be "stripped" and the security would then be about the same as regular http. This is a problem and I'd like to know if there are defenses against it. MITM attacks like this seem to be hard to detect. Also, does the level of encryption matter or add any later of protection against SSL stripping? For instance, 256 bit vs 128, etc.
 

VirtuBox

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The easier is to use HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security).

HSTS tells the browser to only communicate with the server via HTTPS. The browser remembers the HSTS header from the server from the first time it was seen. When the user visits the site again, the browser enforces that all communication is done via HTTPS.
Source : https://avicoder.me/2016/02/22/SSLstrip-for-newbies/
 

RDO Servers

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For SSL Stripping to work, you have to first connect to the remote server via http. If you are careful to go straight to the https version of sites, this will help a lot.
Also be sure to watch your address bar and make sure you stay on https.

HTTPEverwhere installed on your machine will (should) force you to connect via https only.

Using a VPN service can also help greatly to prevent MITM attacks.
 

EpicGlobalWeb

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Right, because the attack in this case appears to happen at the time of connect before the data gets encrypted without actually breaking any encryption.
 

RDO Servers

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EpicGlobalWeb

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Wikipedia says the initial request with HSTS is still initially unprotected. I'm trying to wrap my head around the benefit then because so is https. Here is the source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_Strict_Transport_Security

I see what you're saying about the benefits. Maybe the solution is actually in some kind of packet sniffing like WireShark to find out what's unusual?
 
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