200-201 Question 144
Single answerA financial organization's web server suddenly becomes unresponsive, and an investigation reveals a flood of ICMP Echo Request packets targeting the server's IP address. Which type of network attack is most likely occurring?
- A
Protocol-based attack
- B
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack
- C
Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack
- D
Phishing attack
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The described scenario is a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, where a server is overwhelmed with traffic from multiple sources to exhaust its resources and make it unresponsive. The use of ICMP Echo Request packets (commonly known as a 'ping flood') is a classic method employed in DDoS attacks. This makes DDoS the most accurate choice.
- A. Incorrect.
While ICMP Echo Request abuse can fall under protocol-based attacks, this option is too broad and does not specifically describe the scenario where multiple systems flood a target with traffic.
- B. Correct.
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is the most accurate answer because this scenario involves a flood of ICMP Echo Requests designed to overwhelm the server, rendering it unresponsive. This attack typically originates from multiple compromised systems.
- C. Incorrect.
A Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack involves intercepting and possibly altering communication between two parties, which is unrelated to the described flood of ICMP packets.
- D. Incorrect.
Phishing attacks involve deceptive emails or messages to trick users into providing sensitive information, unrelated to the described server flooding scenario.