Ethical Hacking Essentials Practice Test

What type of attack, also known as phlashing, targets hardware and causes irreversible damage?

1. Distributed Denial-of-Service Attack

2. Permanent DoS (PDoS) Attack

3. Fragmentation Attack

4. Ping of Death Attack

The correct answer is: Permanent DoS (PDoS) Attack

The type of attack referred to as phlashing is indeed the Permanent Denial-of-Service (PDoS) attack. This attack targets the hardware itself, specifically by sending malicious data or commands to devices in such a way that it can overwrite the device's firmware or bios settings. This results in the complete inoperability of the hardware, making it permanently unusable without physical intervention or repair. PDoS attacks are particularly concerning because they go beyond the typical denial-of-service attacks that simply disrupt services; instead, they inflict permanent damage that may require a full replacement of the device. Such attacks exploit vulnerabilities in the hardware to cause irreversible effects, distinguishing them from other attack types that may temporarily disrupt service without causing lasting damage. Other options involve different methods of attacking systems. For example, Distributed Denial-of-Service attacks focus on overwhelming a system with traffic, while Fragmentation attacks exploit packet fragmentation to evade detection. The Ping of Death attack involves sending oversized packets to crash systems but generally doesn’t render the hardware useless permanently.