200-201 Security Monitoring Practice Question
A security analyst is monitoring network traffic and notices a high volume of TCP SYN packets sent to various ports on a single host. Which type of attack is most likely occurring?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Port scan
A port scan uses TCP SYN packets to probe for open ports on a target host. Excessive SYN packets to multiple ports indicate a port scan.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
DNS amplification
Why it's wrong here
DNS amplification uses DNS queries with spoofed source IPs, not TCP SYN.
- ✗
Smurf attack
Why it's wrong here
Smurf attacks use ICMP echo requests to broadcast addresses.
- ✓
Port scan
Why this is correct
Port scans send SYN packets to various ports to identify open services.
- ✗
ARP spoofing
Why it's wrong here
ARP spoofing involves sending falsified ARP messages, not TCP SYN packets.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 200-201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 200-201 exam.