DNS poisoning is best described as which type of attack?

• A. Brute force attack
• B. Man-in-the-middle attack
• C. DNS poisoning
• D. SQL injection

Answer: (C)

DNS poisoning is a form of attack that corrupts the Domain Name System data used to translate domain names into IP addresses. By injecting false DNS records into a DNS server or its cache, an attacker makes a resolver return a malicious IP instead of the legitimate one. This redirects users to attacker-controlled sites, which can enable phishing, credential theft, or even interception of traffic if the attacker sits in the path. While a man-in-the-middle outcome can result from a poisoned DNS response, the essential description is the manipulation of DNS data itself rather than brute-forcing credentials, injecting SQL commands, or directly intercepting communications.