Which of the following types of attacks is often performed by looking surreptitiously at the keyboard or monitor of an employee's computer?

Question

Options

• ABuffer-overflow attack
• BMan-in-the-middle attack
• CShoulder surfing attack
• DDenial-of-Service (DoS) attack

• B
  6% (2)
• C
  91% (31)
• D
  3% (1)

Explanation

Shoulder surfing (C) is a social engineering technique where an attacker physically observes someone's screen or keyboard to steal credentials, PINs, or sensitive data - the name comes from literally looking over someone's shoulder.

Why the others are wrong:

• A (Buffer overflow): A code-level exploit that sends more data than a program's buffer can hold to overwrite memory - no physical observation involved.
• B (Man-in-the-middle): A network attack where the attacker intercepts communications between two parties - happens digitally, not physically.
• D (DoS): Overwhelms a system with traffic to make it unavailable - purely technical, not observation-based.

Memory tip: Picture someone literally surfing the waves over your shoulder while you type your password - if you can see it physically, it's shoulder surfing.

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