Final answer:
A brute force attack is used to guess the key for decoding a message by trying every possible character combination. It differs from other methods as it does not rely on pre-arranged word lists or computed hash tables.
Step-by-step explanation:
An attack method used to guess the key and check if the message decodes correctly is known as a brute force attack. This type of cyber attack involves trying every possible combination of characters until the correct key is found. A man-in-the-middle attack, while also a serious threat, does not involve guessing a key but instead the attacker intercepts communication between two parties to gain unauthorized access to information.