What best describes a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack?

• A. A ransomware attack that encrypts files.
• B. An attack where a computer sends repeated requests to a server until overwhelmed.
• C. A phishing scam to steal credentials.
• D. A malware that exfiltrates data.

Answer: (B)

Denial-of-Service focuses on making a service unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic or requests so that legitimate users can’t access it. The best description is a scenario where a computer floods a server with repeated requests, exhausting bandwidth, memory, or processing power and effectively shutting out normal users. This targets availability, not the secrecy or integrity of data. Other options describe ransomware (encrypting files), phishing (stealing credentials), or malware that exfiltrates data—each attacking different security goals rather than simply making a service unusable.