Chapter 2: Types of Attacks

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions from Chapter 2: Types of Attacks.

Denial of Service (DoS)

An attack based on the premise that all computers have operational limitations, using excessive traffic or utilities like ping to disrupt service.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)

A variation of a Denial of Service attack launched from multiple clients, making it more difficult to track due to the use of zombie machines.

SYN Flood

A Denial of Service attack that takes advantage of the TCP handshake process.

Smurf Attack

A popular attack that utilizes ICMP packets sent with the target's IP address spoofed to overwhelm a system.

Ping of Death (POD)

An attack that targets machines that cannot handle oversized packets.

UDP Flood

A variation of the Ping of Death that targets random open ports without requiring acknowledgments, which can cause the target computer to shut down if enough packets are sent.

ICMP Flood

Another name for the ping flood attack.

HTTP Post DoS

A Denial of Service attack that hangs a server using a slowly delivered HTTP post message.

Permanent DoS (PDOS)

Also known as phlashing, an attack that badly damages a system, often targeting device firmware.

Distributed Reflection DoS (DRDOS)

A Denial of Service attack that uses routers to forward connection requests with a spoofed target machine's IP address without needing to compromise the routers.

FakeAV

A class of malware, also known as Rogue AntiVirus, Rogues, or ScareWare, that displays false alert messages.

Flame

Also known as Flamer, skyWlper, and Skywiper, a modular computer malware that targets systems running Windows OS.

GameoverZeuS

A peer-to-peer (p2p) botnet based on components from the earlier ZeuS trojan, created by Russian hacker Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev.

Buffer Overflow Attack

An attack designed to put more information into a memory buffer than it is intended to hold, often overwriting buffer bounds.

IP Spoofing

An attack used to gain unauthorized access to computers by modifying the source address of a packet.

Session Hijacking

An attack in which a hacker takes over a TCP session, most commonly through a man-in-the-middle attack.

Trojan Horse

A program that appears benign but contains malicious intent, capable of downloading harmful software, installing keyloggers, deleting files, or opening backdoors.