Impersonation
nounverified·updated May 18, 2026
A malicious individual is able to impersonate a legitimate data subject to the data controller. The adversary forges a valid access request and goes through the identity verification enforced by the data controller. The data controller sends to the adversary the data of a legitimate data subject. Defeating impersonation is the primary objective of any authentication protocol. The result of this attack is a data breach (e.g. blaggers [sic] pretend to be someone they are not in order to wheedle out the information they are seeking obtaining information illegaly which they then sell for a specified price).
Framework senses
Security Analysis of Subject Access Request Procedures: How to Authenticate Data Subjects Safely When They Request for Their Data1 senseview framework →
- §1
- A malicious individual is able to impersonate a legitimate data subject to the data controller. The adversary forges a valid access request and goes through the identity verification enforced by the data controller. The data controller sends to the adversary the data of a legitimate data subject. Defeating impersonation is the primary objective of any authentication protocol. The result of this attack is a data breach (e.g. blaggers [sic] pretend to be someone they are not in order to wheedle out the information they are seeking obtaining information illegaly which they then sell for a specified price).
- §1
- imitating the mannerisms of another person
- §2
- pretending to be another person
- §3
- a representation of a person that is exaggerated for comic effect