Which is a characteristic feature of a Denial of Service (DoS) attack?

A characteristic feature of a Denial of Service (DoS) attack is that it overwhelms the target system with traffic. This type of attack aims to render a system, service, or network unavailable to its intended users by inundating it with an excessive amount of requests or traffic. When the system is overwhelmed, legitimate users cannot access the services it is meant to provide, leading to disruptions and potential financial losses for the affected organization.

The essence of a DoS attack lies in its focus on causing availability issues rather than stealing data or compromising credentials. Other options, like encrypting sensitive information, compromising user credentials, or intercepting communications, relate to different types of cybersecurity threats, such as ransomware or man-in-the-middle attacks, which do not align with the primary goal of a DoS attack. Thus, the accurate description of a DoS attack centers on its capacity to disrupt normal operations through excessive traffic.