Eavesdropping is the act of secretly or stealthily listening to the private conversation or communications of others without their consent in order to gather information.
The verbeavesdrop is a back-formation from the nouneavesdropper ("a person who eavesdrops"), which was formed from the related nouneavesdrop ("the dripping of water from theeaves of a house; the ground on which such water falls").[1]
An eavesdropper was someone who would hang from theeave of a building so as to hear what is said within. ThePBS documentariesInside the Court of Henry VIII (April 8, 2015)[2] andSecrets of Henry VIII’s Palace (June 30, 2013) include segments that display and discuss "eavedrops", carved wooden figuresHenry VIII had built into theeaves (overhanging edges of the beams in the ceiling) ofHampton Court to discourage unwanted gossip or dissension from the King's wishes and rule, to foment paranoia and fear,[2] and demonstrate that everything said there was being overheard; literally, that the walls had ears.[3]
Eavesdropping vectors includetelephone lines,cellular networks,email, and other methods of private instant messaging. Devices that supportVoIP and other communication software are also vulnerable to electronic eavesdropping by computer viruses categorized astrojan viruses or more broadly asspyware.[4]
Network eavesdropping is a network layer attack that focuses on capturing smallpackets from the network transmitted by other computers and reading the data content in search of any type of information.[5] This type of network attack is generally one of the most effective as a lack ofencryption services are used and when the connection between the two endpoints are weak and not secure.[6][7] It is also linked to the collection ofmetadata.
There is a growing importance of security in communication systems, specifically inwireless technology. The need for security measures at different levels, including software encryption, hardware protection (e.g.,trusted platform modules), and even the physical layer using wave-front engineering is as crucial than ever.[8]
Researchers have expressed the importance of addressing the privacy concerns from eavesdropping attacks because they impact the rights of users and the ability to have confidence in the devices as well as the entireInternet. Ensuring that users have trust and confidence in their Internet activities so users continue to engage actively in the system and sharedata.[9]
The dictionary definition ofeavesdropping at Wiktionary
Media related toEavesdropping at Wikimedia Commons