What type of attack leverages multiple compromised systems to disrupt a target's services?

A Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack specifically involves leveraging multiple compromised systems, often part of a botnet, to overwhelm a target's resources and disrupt services. This type of attack floods the target with excessive requests, making it difficult or impossible for legitimate users to access the service. The distributed aspect refers to the use of a large number of systems, which amplifies the attack's impact and makes it more challenging to mitigate, since the traffic comes from many different sources.

In contrast, a brute force attack focuses on trying numerous combinations of passwords to gain unauthorized access to a system. A man-in-the-middle attack involves intercepting communication between two parties to eavesdrop or alter information without detection. SQL injection targets vulnerabilities in web applications to manipulate databases. While these types of attacks are all significant threats, they do not involve disrupting a target's services through the coordinated efforts of multiple systems in the way that a DDoS attack does.