What type of attack is characterized by overwhelming a service with traffic to render it unavailable?

The type of attack characterized by overwhelming a service with traffic to make it unavailable is a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. In a DDoS attack, multiple compromised systems (often part of a botnet) are used to generate a substantial amount of traffic directed at a target server, service, or network. The goal is to exhaust the resources of the targeted system, such as its bandwidth, CPU, or memory, ultimately resulting in service disruption and denial of access to legitimate users.

DDoS attacks can involve various methods, including flooding the target with more requests than it can handle or exploiting network protocols to amplify the attack. Since the DDoS uses multiple sources to launch the attack, it can become more complex and severe compared to a traditional DoS attack, which might originate from a single compromised system.

In contrast, the other types of attacks listed involve different tactics and objectives. A Man-in-the-Middle attack focuses on intercepting and potentially altering communication between two parties without their knowledge. A phishing attack is designed to deceive individuals into providing sensitive information by masquerading as a trustworthy entity. Remote Code Execution attacks exploit vulnerabilities in systems to execute arbitrary code, typically for malicious purposes, but do not inherently involve overwhelming a