Protocol Analysis

Correct Answer: TCP analysis

The correct answer is 'TCP analysis'. This is because in TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), each piece of data sent is acknowledged by the receiving part. If an acknowledgement isn't received, the data is retransmitted. Therefore, if there are excessive retransmissions, it indicates an issue with the TCP and its process. This requires a TCP analysis to troubleshoot The other options 'UDP analysis', 'ARP analysis', and 'DNS analysis' are incorrect. UDP (User Datagram Protocol) doesn't guarantee delivery by not using acknowledgements like TCP. This means trouble with retransmissions wouldn't necessarily be solved by a UDP analysis. ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) is connected with mapping an IP address to a physical address on the local network and would not be implicated in data retransmissions. Lastly, DNS (Domain Name System) translates domain names to IP addresses which is not involved with data transmissions. Therefore, these would not be helpful in identifying the root cause of excessive retransmissions.

Correct Answer: SYN flood attack

This type of scenario, where multiple TCP packets have the SYN flag set without corresponding ACK flags, is typical of a SYN flood attack. In a SYN flood attack, the attacker sends a large number of SYN packets (TCP connection requests) to a target's system in an attempt to consume enough server resources to make the system unresponsive to legitimate traffic. On the other hand, a Smurf attack involves saturating a network with traffic by exploiting ICMP echo mechanisms and an IP broadcast address, while a Ping of Death involves sending oversized or malformed packets using a simple network protocol to crash, freeze, or cause vulnerabilities on the target system. Finally, a UDP flood attack involves flooding random ports on a remote host with UDP packets to overwhelm the host and cause it to respond with ICMP Destination Unreachable packets, thus slowing down its internet connection.

Correct Answer: DHCP Starvation attack

The given scenario where there is an unusually large number of DHCP request packets being sent to the DHCP server indicates a DHCP Starvation attack. In this type of attack, an attacker floods a DHCP server with DHCP requests to consume all the IP addresses that the server can issue, and subsequently denies service to DHCP clients. On the other hand, a DHCP Spoofing attack involves an attacker sending falsified ACK and/or NACK messages to clients. A DHCP Sniffing attack is a non-valid term in the context of DHCP attacks. Lastly, a Man-in-the-middle attack is a broader term for an attack where the attacker secretly relays and possibly alters the communication between two parties who believe they are directly communicating with each other. While a DHCP Starvation attack can be a precursor to a Man-in-the-middle attack, the specific volume of DHCP requests as described in the question would directly indicate a DHCP Starvation attack.