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What is the goal of a Denial-of-Service attack?

  1. To gain unauthorized access to sensitive data

  2. To disrupt the availability of services

  3. To extract confidential information

  4. To establish a foothold for further attacks

The correct answer is: To disrupt the availability of services

The primary goal of a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is to disrupt the availability of services. In such an attack, the perpetrator aims to render a network service unavailable to its intended users, either temporarily or indefinitely. This is achieved by overwhelming the target with a flood of illegitimate requests, exhausting the server's resources and rendering it unable to process legitimate requests. While unauthorized access, data extraction, or establishing footholds are concerns related to other forms of cyberattacks, they do not align with the specific intent of a Denial-of-Service attack. The focus here is on making a service or network resource unusable, thus highlighting the importance of service availability in cybersecurity. Ensuring that systems remain accessible and stable against such attacks is crucial for maintaining operational integrity in any organization.