A user is sending a large number of protocol packets to a network in order to saturate its resources and to disrupt connections to prevent communications between services. Which type of attack is…

The correct answer is A. Denial-of-Service attack. Flooding a network with protocol packets to exhaust resources and disrupt service is the textbook definition of a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack - the goal is to deny legitimate users access by overwhelming the target, not to steal data or gain entry. B (Vulnerability attack)…

Infrastructure Security

Question

A user is sending a large number of protocol packets to a network in order to saturate its resources and to disrupt connections to prevent communications between services. Which type of attack is this?

Options

ADenial-of-Service attack
BVulnerability attack
CSocial Engineering attack
DImpersonation attack

How the community answered

(30 responses)

A
93% (28)
B
3% (1)
C
3% (1)

Explanation

Flooding a network with protocol packets to exhaust resources and disrupt service is the textbook definition of a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack - the goal is to deny legitimate users access by overwhelming the target, not to steal data or gain entry.

B (Vulnerability attack) is wrong because that describes exploiting a specific software flaw or weakness, not resource exhaustion.
C (Social Engineering) is wrong because that manipulates people through deception (phishing, pretexting), not network infrastructure.
D (Impersonation) is wrong because that involves falsely posing as a trusted entity, not flooding traffic.

Memory tip: Think "Denial = Deny access" - DoS attacks deny service by saturation; if packets are the weapon and disruption is the goal, it's always DoS.

Topics

#Denial-of-Service#Network attacks#Protocol flooding#Service disruption

Community Discussion

No community discussion yet for this question.

Full CISSP-ISSAP Practice