What type of attack is characterized by overwhelming a system's resources?

The attack characterized by overwhelming a system's resources is a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. In a DoS attack, the perpetrator aims to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by flooding it with excessive traffic or requests. This overload can lead to legitimate users being unable to access the services they need, resulting in disruption of normal operations.

In contrast, a data breach involves unauthorized access to sensitive or confidential data, while phishing is a technique used to deceive individuals into revealing personal information through fraudulent communication. SQL injection is a method used to manipulate databases by injecting malicious SQL code, which targets vulnerabilities in data-driven applications rather than overwhelming system resources. Understanding these distinctions helps clarify why a Denial of Service attack specifically focuses on resource consumption to disable service availability.