What is the primary goal of a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack?

The primary goal of a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack is to thwart access to a network or resource. This type of attack is designed to overwhelm the target system, making it inaccessible to legitimate users. Attackers achieve this by flooding a network or service with excessive requests, consuming its resources and preventing it from fulfilling valid service requests.

In the context of security operations, understanding the intent behind a DoS attack is crucial for developing appropriate defenses and response strategies. DoS attacks disrupt normal business operations, affect availability, and can lead to significant financial and reputational damage to organizations. This stands in contrast to other malicious activities, such as attempting to retrieve sensitive data, install malware, or alter configurations, which have different motivations and impacts. Each of these alternative actions targets specific vulnerabilities but does not align with the primary objective of a DoS attack, which centers on denial of service rather than compromising or extracting information directly.