Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies (AZ-300) Practice Exam

What type of attacks are known to cause loss of availability for users?

1. Phishing attacks

2. Denial of Service attacks

3. Man-in-the-Middle attacks

4. SQL Injection attacks

The correct answer is: Denial of Service attacks

Denial of Service (DoS) attacks are specifically designed to disrupt the availability of a service, making it inaccessible to its intended users. This is accomplished by overwhelming the targeted system with a flood of traffic, exploiting vulnerabilities, or utilizing multiple compromised systems in the case of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. The primary objective of these attacks is to render the service unavailable, which can lead to significant operational disruptions and loss of business. In contrast, phishing attacks primarily focus on tricking users into revealing sensitive information, while Man-in-the-Middle attacks intercept communications without necessarily affecting service availability. SQL Injection attacks typically exploit vulnerabilities in database queries to manipulate or extract data but also do not directly target availability in the same way that DoS attacks do. Hence, Denial of Service attacks are marked by their explicit goal of compromising availability.