Which of the following TCP attacks tweaks the TCP three-way handshake process in an attempt to overload network servers, resulting in authorized users being denied access to network resources?
Explanation
Answer - C - The SYN attack tweaks the TCP three-way handshake process, thus overloading servers and leading to DoS attacks.
Key Takeaway: SYN attacks exploit the TCP three-way handshake and overload the servers, resulting in authorized users being denied access to network resources. The attacker uses a spoofed IP address not in use on the Internet and sends multiple SYN packets to the target machine. The target machine allocates resources and sends an acknowledgement SYN-ACK to the source IP address. Since the target machine doesn't receive a response from the attacking machine, it attempts to resend the SYN-ACK five times. Effectively, the target machine allocates resources for more than 3 minutes to respond to just one SYN attack. When the attacker uses this technique repeatedly, the target machine eventually runs out of resources and is unable to handle any more connections, thereby denying service to legitimate users.
