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200-201 Practice Question: A security analyst is reviewing logs from…
A security analyst is reviewing logs from multiple network devices and notices that a large number of ICMP echo requests with a payload size of 65507 bytes are being sent to a single server from various external IP addresses. The server is becoming unresponsive. Which type of attack is most likely occurring?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between a Ping of Death (single malformed packet) and an ICMP flood (high volume of normal or large packets), where candidates mistakenly choose 'Ping of Death' because they see the large payload size, but the key is the volume and the fact that 65507 bytes is within the legal limit for a single packet.
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
✓
ICMP flood
D is correct because an ICMP flood attack involves overwhelming a target with a high volume of ICMP echo request packets, consuming bandwidth and processing resources. The large payload size (65507 bytes) is a characteristic of a crafted ICMP packet, but the key indicator here is the sheer volume from multiple sources causing the server to become unresponsive, which aligns with a volumetric ICMP flood rather than a single malformed packet.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Ping of death
Why it's wrong here
A ping of death involves sending a single oversized ICMP packet that causes a buffer overflow, not a high volume of packets.
- ✗
SYN flood
Why it's wrong here
A SYN flood targets TCP connections by sending incomplete SYN packets, not ICMP traffic.
- ✗
Smurf attack
Why it's wrong here
A Smurf attack uses ICMP echo requests sent to a broadcast address with a spoofed source IP, causing all hosts to reply to the victim. This scenario does not mention broadcast addresses or spoofed source IPs.
- ✓
ICMP flood
Why this is correct
An ICMP flood sends a high volume of ICMP echo request packets to overwhelm the target's resources, matching the description of many large ping packets from multiple sources.
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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.