CERTIFIED-IN-CYBERSECURITY Question #514: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

Question

What is the PRIMARY goal of a Denial of Service (DoS) attack?

Options

• APreventing legitimate activity on a system
• BSpreading malware
• CGaining access to sensitive data
• DDiverting users to malicious websites

Explanation

The primary goal of a denial-of-service (DoS) attack is to make a system or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting the services of a host connected to the Internet (see ISC2 Study Guide, Chapter 4, Module 2). This is typically accomplished by flooding the targeted machine or resource with unwanted requests in an attempt to overload systems and prevent some or all legitimate requests from being fulfilled. For example, an attacker might target a high-profile Web server, such as a bank, with a DoS attack. By flooding the server with traffic, the attacker can cause it to crash or operate so slowly that it becomes unusable. In this way, the attacker can prevent the bank's customers from accessing their online accounts. The other options are wrong because they do not capture the primary goal of a DoS. Gaining access to sensitive data, spreading malware, and redirecting users to malicious Web sites may be goals of other types of cyber attacks, but they are not the primary goal of a DoS attack. While a DoS attack could potentially be used as a diversion or as part of a larger attack, its primary purpose is to disrupt service and prevent legitimate activity.

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