CompTIA® Security+™: Study Guide, Fifth Edition

Calculating Attack Strategies

In computing, a lot of the terminology used comes from other fields, such as the military. That seems to be particularly true when it comes to security. Using that line of logic, an attack occurs when an unauthorized individual or group of individuals attempts to access, modify, or damage your systems or environment. These attacks can be fairly simple and unfocused, or they can appear to be almost blitzkrieg-like in their intensity.

One main reason for the differences in attacks is that they occur in many ways and for different reasons. Regardless of how they occur, they are generally used to accomplish one or more of these three goals:

Access attack—This occurs when someone who does not have permission to access ...