Final answer:
A Denial of Service (DoS) attack is an assault that inundates network links and devices with useless data, rendering them unavailable to legitimate users.
Step-by-step explanation:
The type of attack that attempts to overwhelm network links and devices with useless data is called a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. In a DoS attack, the attacker floods the target system with an overwhelming amount of traffic, consuming its resources and making it unavailable to legitimate users.
For example, an attacker may use a botnet (a network of compromised computers) to send a massive amount of traffic to a target website, causing it to become slow or unresponsive. This type of attack does not attempt to infiltrate or gain control of the target system, but rather disrupts its normal operation.
DoS attacks can have serious consequences, impacting the availability and performance of important services. Organizations utilize various preventive measures, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and load balancers, to mitigate the risk of such attacks.