CompTIA Security+ (SY0-601) — Question 30

A security analyst is receiving numerous alerts reporting that the response time of an internet-facing application has been degraded. However, the internal network performance was not degraded. Which of the following MOST likely explains this behavior?

Answer options

• A. DNS poisoning
• B. MAC flooding
• C. DDoS attack
• D. ARP poisoning

Correct answer: C

Explanation

The correct answer is C, a DDoS attack, as it can overwhelm an internet-facing application by flooding it with excessive traffic, leading to degraded performance. DNS poisoning, MAC flooding, and ARP poisoning do not specifically target the external performance of an application in this manner, making them less likely explanations for the observed issue.