An attacker has captured a target file that is encrypted with public key cryptography. Which of the attacks below is likely to be used to crack the target file?

A timing attack exploits measurable differences in the time taken to perform cryptographic operations - it targets implementation vulnerabilities rather than directly attacking an encrypted file.

A replay attack captures and retransmits valid authentication or session data to gain unauthorized access and is not used to decrypt or crack an encrypted file.

A memory trade-off attack (such as a rainbow table attack) is used to reverse hash functions for password cracking, not to break public key encrypted files.

In public key cryptography, the attacker already has access to the public key, which means they can encrypt any plaintext of their choosing. By encrypting known plaintexts and comparing the resulting ciphertexts to the target ciphertext, the attacker can analyze patterns and potentially derive the plaintext of the encrypted target file. This attack is particularly powerful against public key systems precisely because the encryption capability is publicly available.