Which type of attack exploits human vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access?

Question

Options

• APhishing
• BBrute force
• CDenial of Service
• DMalware

• A
  90% (28)
• B
  6% (2)
• C
  3% (1)

Explanation

Phishing (A) is correct because it is a social engineering attack - it manipulates human psychology (trust, urgency, fear) to trick people into revealing credentials or granting access, rather than exploiting a technical weakness.

• B (Brute force) is wrong - it's a purely technical attack that systematically guesses passwords through automated trial and error, with no human manipulation involved.
• C (Denial of Service) is wrong - DoS attacks overwhelm a system with traffic to make it unavailable; they don't seek unauthorized access.
• D (Malware) is wrong - malware is malicious software that can cause harm once deployed, but deploying it exploits technical vulnerabilities, not human ones directly (though phishing is often used to deliver malware).

Memory tip: "Phishing" sounds like "fishing" - just as a fisherman uses bait to lure a fish, a phishing attacker uses a convincing fake (email, website, call) to lure a human into biting.

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