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312-50V10 · Question #695

How does a denial-of-service attack work?

The correct answer is A. A hacker prevents a legitimate user (or group of users) from accessing a service. A denial-of-service (DoS) attack is defined by its goal of making a service or resource unavailable to legitimate users. The attacker overwhelms or disrupts the target to deny access, not to steal data or impersonate anyone.

Denial of Service

Question

How does a denial-of-service attack work?

Options

  • AA hacker prevents a legitimate user (or group of users) from accessing a service
  • BA hacker uses every character, word, or letter he or she can think of to defeat authentication
  • CA hacker tries to decipher a password by using a system, which subsequently crashes the
  • DA hacker attempts to imitate a legitimate user by confusing a computer or even another person

How the community answered

(30 responses)
  • A
    90% (27)
  • B
    3% (1)
  • C
    7% (2)

Why each option

A denial-of-service (DoS) attack is defined by its goal of making a service or resource unavailable to legitimate users. The attacker overwhelms or disrupts the target to deny access, not to steal data or impersonate anyone.

AA hacker prevents a legitimate user (or group of users) from accessing a serviceCorrect

A DoS attack specifically aims to prevent legitimate users from accessing a service by overwhelming the target with traffic or exploiting vulnerabilities that exhaust its resources. The defining characteristic is the disruption of availability, not credential theft, password cracking, or impersonation. This is the textbook definition recognized across all major security certifications and frameworks.

BA hacker uses every character, word, or letter he or she can think of to defeat authentication

Trying every possible character or word combination to guess credentials describes a brute force attack, not a DoS attack.

CA hacker tries to decipher a password by using a system, which subsequently crashes the

Attempting to decipher a password through exhaustive system-based cracking describes a password cracking or brute force technique, not a DoS attack.

DA hacker attempts to imitate a legitimate user by confusing a computer or even another person

Imitating a legitimate user to confuse a system or person describes impersonation, spoofing, or social engineering, not a DoS attack.

Concept tested: Definition and mechanism of denial-of-service attacks

Source: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/news/understanding-denial-service-attacks

Topics

#denial of service#availability attack#service disruption#attack definition

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