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200-201 Practice Question: Based on the exhibit, what is the most likely…
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit. Event: 02/15/2023 14:32:10 Src IP: 10.10.10.50 Dst IP: 203.0.113.5 Protocol: TCP Flags: SYN Length: 60 bytes (Repeated 100 times in the last 2 seconds)
Based on the exhibit, what is the most likely type of attack being observed?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the distinction between a SYN flood (which targets the TCP handshake state table) and a port scan (which probes for open ports), so the trap here is that candidates see many SYN packets and assume it's a port scan rather than recognizing the volumetric nature of the attack.
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
✓
SYN flood
A SYN flood attack exploits the TCP three-way handshake by sending a high volume of SYN packets with spoofed source IP addresses, causing the target to allocate resources for half-open connections until it exhausts its backlog queue and denies legitimate traffic. The exhibit likely shows a massive spike in SYN packets without corresponding SYN-ACK or ACK completions, which is the hallmark of this attack.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
ARP spoofing
Why it's wrong here
ARP spoofing involves ARP replies, not TCP SYN.
- ✗
DNS amplification attack
Why it's wrong here
DNS amplification uses UDP, not TCP SYN.
- ✗
Port scan
Why it's wrong here
Port scans target multiple ports, not repeated SYN to same host.
- ✓
SYN flood
Why this is correct
Rapid SYN packets without completing handshake indicates SYN flood.
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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.