Users in a company have complained about network performance. After investigation, the IT staff has determined that the attacker was using a specific technique that affected the TCP three-way handshake. What is the type of network attack?

The type of network attack that specifically affects the TCP three-way handshake is a SYN flood.

Explanation:

• A SYN flood is a form of Denial-of-Service attack in which an attacker sends a succession of SYN requests to a target’s system in an attempt to consume enough server resources to make the system unresponsive to legitimate traffic. It targets the TCP three-way handshake mechanism by not completing the handshake process, leading to a buildup of half-open connections.

Incorrect Options:

• DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) is a broader category of attack that can include SYN floods but is not specific to the TCP three-way handshake disruption.
• DNS poisoning is an attack that corrupts DNS server data to redirect traffic to malicious sites.
• A zero-day attack refers to exploiting vulnerabilities that are unknown or unaddressed by the software vendor, and it does not specifically target the TCP three-way handshake.