What is the name of the malicious practice that places a computer between sender and receiver to capture traffic?

The practice of placing a computer between the sender and receiver in order to capture and possibly manipulate network traffic is known as "Active Interception." This method not only involves capturing the traffic but can also allow the attacker to modify the data being transmitted, making it more harmful than merely eavesdropping.

Active interception is different from passive methods because it engages the attacker in actively altering or injecting data into the communication stream. This can lead to a range of malicious outcomes, such as data theft, man-in-the-middle attacks, or the injection of malware into the communication.

In contrast, other options refer to techniques that might be associated with network traffic capture but do not necessarily involve the same level of active interference. Passive sniffing, for instance, entails capturing data without altering it, which is less intrusive than active interception. Traffic analysis focuses more on monitoring the flow of traffic to gain insights rather than specifically intercepting and manipulating the communication. Packet inspection generally refers to analyzing the data packets for security measures but doesn't imply that the traffic is being captured in a malicious context.