An attacker takes advantage of the DNS recursive method of DNS redirection. What attack term describes this?

An attacker takes advantage of the DNS recursive method of DNS redirection. What attack term describes this?

• A. DNS Hijacking
• B. DNS Spoofing
• C. DNS Cache Poisoning
• D. DNS Amplification Attack

Answer: (D)

DNS amplification attacks exploit how a DNS resolver works with recursive lookups to flood a target. An attacker sends small, spoofed DNS queries to open resolvers, pretending to be the victim. The resolver then performs the recursive process, contacting authoritative servers on behalf of the requester, and returns a much larger response to the victim’s IP. Because the response is much larger than the query, the attacker can drown the victim in traffic with relatively little effort. This combination of using recursive resolvers and generating oversized responses is what defines a DNS amplification attack. This isn’t about hijacking or redirecting a domain at the DNS level, which would involve changing where a domain resolves or forging DNS data. Nor is it about poisoning or spoofing individual DNS responses to mislead clients. The hallmark here is leveraging recursive DNS behavior to amplify traffic toward a target.

DNS amplification attacks exploit how a DNS resolver works with recursive lookups to flood a target. An attacker sends small, spoofed DNS queries to open resolvers, pretending to be the victim. The resolver then performs the recursive process, contacting authoritative servers on behalf of the requester, and returns a much larger response to the victim’s IP. Because the response is much larger than the query, the attacker can drown the victim in traffic with relatively little effort. This combination of using recursive resolvers and generating oversized responses is what defines a DNS amplification attack.

This isn’t about hijacking or redirecting a domain at the DNS level, which would involve changing where a domain resolves or forging DNS data. Nor is it about poisoning or spoofing individual DNS responses to mislead clients. The hallmark here is leveraging recursive DNS behavior to amplify traffic toward a target.