Which statement best describes a Smurf attack?

Which statement best describes a Smurf attack?

• A. It is a type of DDoS attack that floods the target with ICMP echo replies.
• B. It is a phishing attempt conducted via email.
• C. It is a malware disguised as a legitimate program.
• D. It is a method of password guessing.

Answer: (A)

A Smurf attack is a denial-of-service technique that uses spoofed IP addresses and ICMP broadcast behavior to overwhelm a target. The attacker sends ICMP echo requests to a network’s broadcast address with the victim’s address as the source. All devices on that broadcast network reply to the victim with ICMP echo replies, producing a flood of traffic toward the target. This amplification makes the attack more powerful, often exhausting the victim’s bandwidth or resources. That’s why this option is the best description: it captures the DDoS nature and the mechanism of using ICMP replies to flood the target. The other ideas describe phishing, malware, or password guessing—each a different attack type that doesn’t involve flooding the victim with ICMP responses. To defend against Smurf attacks, networks should disable directed broadcasts, implement ICMP rate limiting, and apply anti-spoofing measures and proper filtering to block spoofed traffic.

A Smurf attack is a denial-of-service technique that uses spoofed IP addresses and ICMP broadcast behavior to overwhelm a target. The attacker sends ICMP echo requests to a network’s broadcast address with the victim’s address as the source. All devices on that broadcast network reply to the victim with ICMP echo replies, producing a flood of traffic toward the target. This amplification makes the attack more powerful, often exhausting the victim’s bandwidth or resources.

That’s why this option is the best description: it captures the DDoS nature and the mechanism of using ICMP replies to flood the target. The other ideas describe phishing, malware, or password guessing—each a different attack type that doesn’t involve flooding the victim with ICMP responses. To defend against Smurf attacks, networks should disable directed broadcasts, implement ICMP rate limiting, and apply anti-spoofing measures and proper filtering to block spoofed traffic.