Cisco Certified Support Technician (CCST) NetworkingSecurity FundamentalsMedium
A network security team observes an attacker attempting to flood a web server with a massive volume of malformed HTTP requests, aiming to consume all available server resources and render the service unavailable to legitimate users. The attack originates from a single, identifiable source IP address. What type of attack is being described?
- ADenial of Service (DoS)
- BCross-Site Scripting (XSS)
- CBuffer Overflow
- DDistributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Denial of Service (DoS)
A Denial of Service (DoS) attack aims to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users. The key characteristic distinguishing it from a Distributed DoS (DDoS) attack in this scenario is that it originates from a 'single, identifiable source IP address.'
Why the other options are wrong
- B. XSS is a client-side code injection attack, not focused on overwhelming server resources directly.
- C. Buffer overflow exploits memory management vulnerabilities, not primarily a network traffic flooding attack.
- D. DDoS attacks involve multiple compromised systems attacking a single target, not a single source IP.
Denial of Service (DoS)
A cyber-attack where the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host connected to the Internet.
- Originates from a single source.
- Aims to consume resources or crash services.
- Prevents legitimate users from accessing services.
Memory trick: Availability attacks are like closing a store during business hours.