CREST Practitioner Security Analyst (CPSA) Practice

What characterizes a DDoS attack?

1. An attack from a single computer

2. An attempt to exploit software vulnerabilities

3. An overwhelming flood of requests from multiple computers

4. A circumvention of security protocols

The correct answer is: An overwhelming flood of requests from multiple computers

A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is characterized by an overwhelming flood of requests coming from multiple computers, often coordinated to target a single system. This simultaneous barrage of traffic aims to exhaust the resources of the targeted server or network, causing it to slow down significantly or even crash, rendering it unavailable to legitimate users. The nature of this attack involves distributed sources, meaning that numerous compromised computers, often part of a botnet, launch the attacks in concert. This makes it difficult to mitigate, as the traffic comes from many different IP addresses, which complicates the task of filtering out malicious requests. In contrast, an attack from a single computer does not meet the definition of a DDoS attack since it lacks the distributed nature that characterizes such incidents. Similarly, while exploiting software vulnerabilities can be part of different attack strategies, it does not directly relate to the defining features of a DDoS attack. The circumvention of security protocols, while relevant to various types of attacks, does not specifically characterize the overwhelming nature of a DDoS assault.