What is a common impact of a DDoS attack?

A common impact of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack is server downtime and service disruption. In a DDoS attack, multiple compromised systems flood a target—such as a server, service, or network—with an overwhelming amount of traffic. This surge can exhaust the resources of the target, leading to degraded performance or complete unavailability of services. As a result, legitimate users may experience significant delays or may not be able to access the affected services at all.

In contrast, the other options do not align with the effects of a DDoS attack. Increased network bandwidth would be an unlikely result, as the attack typically tries to saturate the available bandwidth. Enhanced data encryption is unrelated to DDoS attacks, which do not involve securing data but rather aim to disrupt service. Similarly, improved network security is not an outcome of a DDoS attack; instead, organizations often face challenges in maintaining security while under attack. Thus, server downtime and service disruption accurately describe the primary consequences of such attacks.