Which type of attack capitalizes on data being transmitted without altering it?

A passive attack is characterized by the interception and monitoring of data being transmitted over a network without making any alterations to it. This type of attack focuses on eavesdropping or gathering information discreetly, such as through packet sniffing or traffic analysis. The attacker aims to listen in on communications to gain valuable insights or sensitive information, but does not interfere with the data itself or disrupt the ongoing communication.

In contrast, an active attack involves attempts to alter or disrupt data in transit, such as a man-in-the-middle attack or a replay attack. Natural attacks refer to events like natural disasters that can affect data transmission but are not intentional acts of cyber intrusion. Stateful attacks imply monitoring network traffic and connections to maintain state information, which does not fit within the context of simply capturing data without any modification.

Given these definitions, a passive attack is the correct answer as it aligns with the notion of capitalizing on the data as it is transmitted, without any alteration.