What is the goal of a Denial of Service Attack?

The goal of a Denial of Service (DoS) attack is to prevent users from accessing network resources. This is achieved by overwhelming the target system or network with traffic, causing it to slow down or become completely unresponsive to legitimate requests. In a successful DoS attack, users are denied service as the system becomes unable to process legitimate traffic, effectively disrupting the availability of services.

This type of attack focuses solely on rendering services inaccessible rather than compromising data security or manipulating devices, which aligns with the characteristics and intent of DoS attacks. Other types of cyber threats, such as data theft or malware installation, serve different purposes and do not align with the primary objective of a DoS attack.