- A
On-demand self-service
Why wrong: On-demand self-service refers to users provisioning resources without human interaction; a DDoS does not affect this characteristic.
- B
Broad network access
Why wrong: Broad network access means resources are accessible over the network; a DDoS does not change that, but it does prevent access.
- C
Availability
Availability ensures that cloud services are accessible when needed. A DDoS attack specifically aims to deny availability by overwhelming the service.
- D
Resource pooling
Why wrong: Resource pooling allows multiple customers to share resources; a DDoS does not affect the pooling mechanism itself.
Question 567 of 750
DDoS Attack Impact on Cloud Availability
This 220-1202 practice question tests your understanding of virtualization and cloud technologies. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company's cloud-based CRM application is experiencing intermittent outages. The IT team suspects a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. Which cloud characteristic is most directly impacted by such an attack?
Quick Answer
The correct answer is availability, because a DDoS attack directly impacts the cloud characteristic of availability by overwhelming the system with malicious traffic, preventing legitimate users from accessing the CRM application. This attack exploits the cloud’s reliance on shared resources, flooding bandwidth or server capacity until the service becomes unreachable, which is the core violation of the CIA triad’s availability principle. On the CompTIA A+ Core 2 220-1202 exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish the five essential cloud characteristics—especially rapid elasticity, which might trick you into thinking the cloud can automatically scale to absorb the attack, but in reality, a DDoS can exhaust even elastic resources if traffic exceeds provisioning limits. A common trap is confusing availability with scalability or measured service, so remember that availability means the service is accessible when needed, while elasticity handles normal demand spikes, not malicious floods. Memory tip: “DDoS = Denial of Service = Denial of Availability.”
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
✓
Availability
A DDoS attack floods the CRM application with malicious traffic, overwhelming its resources and causing service disruption. This directly impacts the cloud characteristic of availability, which ensures that services remain accessible to authorized users when needed. In cloud computing, availability is often measured by uptime percentages and is critical for business continuity.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
On-demand self-service
Why it's wrong here
On-demand self-service refers to users provisioning resources without human interaction; a DDoS does not affect this characteristic.
- ✗
Broad network access
Why it's wrong here
Broad network access means resources are accessible over the network; a DDoS does not change that, but it does prevent access.
- ✓
Availability
Why this is correct
Availability ensures that cloud services are accessible when needed. A DDoS attack specifically aims to deny availability by overwhelming the service.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Resource pooling
Why it's wrong here
Resource pooling allows multiple customers to share resources; a DDoS does not affect the pooling mechanism itself.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
CompTIA A+ often tests the distinction between availability and other cloud characteristics, and the trap here is that candidates confuse 'broad network access' (which involves network connectivity) with 'availability' (which is about service uptime and accessibility), leading them to incorrectly select Option B.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Availability in cloud environments is often enforced through redundancy mechanisms such as load balancers, auto-scaling groups, and multi-AZ (Availability Zone) deployments. A DDoS attack can saturate network bandwidth or exhaust application-layer connections (e.g., SYN flood or HTTP flood), bypassing these defenses if not properly mitigated with services like AWS Shield or Azure DDoS Protection. Real-world scenarios include attacks targeting DNS or CDN endpoints, which can degrade availability even for resilient architectures.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the 220-1202 exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this 220-1202 question test?
Virtualization and Cloud Technologies — This question tests Virtualization and Cloud Technologies — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Availability — A DDoS attack floods the CRM application with malicious traffic, overwhelming its resources and causing service disruption. This directly impacts the cloud characteristic of availability, which ensures that services remain accessible to authorized users when needed. In cloud computing, availability is often measured by uptime percentages and is critical for business continuity.
What should I do if I get this 220-1202 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
This 220-1202 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 220-1202 exam.
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