What is a denial-of-service (DoS) attack?

A denial-of-service (DoS) attack is specifically designed to make a service unavailable to its intended users by overwhelming it with excessive traffic or requests. This type of attack focuses on disrupting the normal functioning of a service, which could be a website, server, or other networked resource. By flooding the target with high volumes of traffic that it cannot handle, the attacker effectively causes a denial of service for legitimate users, making it difficult or impossible for them to access the resource.

In contrast, other options describe different goals or strategies that are not characteristic of a DoS attack. For instance, attempts to steal sensitive information focus on data breaches or theft, which have different methodologies and implications than simply overwhelming a service. Enhancing system response time is contrary to the goals of a denial-of-service attack, which intentionally degrades performance. Finally, a strategy for data recovery is unrelated to DoS attacks, which do not involve recovering lost data but rather aim to disrupt access to data and services.