Ethical Hacking Essentials Practice Test

Which attack involves sending multiple ICMP ECHO requests to an IP broadcast network?

1. Smurf Attack

2. SYN Flood Attack

3. ARP Spoofing Attack

4. Ping of Death

The correct answer is: Smurf Attack

The Smurf Attack is a form of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that exploits vulnerabilities in the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP). In this attack, the attacker sends multiple ICMP ECHO requests, also known as "ping" requests, to the broadcast address of a network. Because the broadcast address allows messages to be sent to all hosts on a subnet, every device on that subnet responds to the ICMP request by sending a response to the target's IP address. This overwhelming volume of response traffic directed at the victim can consume their bandwidth, rendering legitimate network traffic difficult or impossible to process. The Smurf Attack capitalizes on the amplification effect of sending a small request that can lead to a large response, significantly amplifying the impact on the targeted system. While other types of attacks like the SYN Flood and the Ping of Death also aim to disrupt services, they do not specifically involve using ICMP ECHO requests to broadcast IP networks in the same way that a Smurf Attack does. The SYN Flood focuses on exploiting the TCP handshake process, while the Ping of Death is designed to send oversized ICMP packets to crash systems, neither of which employ the broadcasting principle used in a Smurf Attack. ARP Spoof