Which event is an example of a threat to the availability pillar of data security?

A denial of service attack directly threatens the availability pillar of data security because its primary goal is to disrupt or prevent legitimate users from accessing a service, system, or network. This type of attack overwhelms the targeted resource with excessive requests, rendering it unable to respond to legitimate traffic. Consequently, systems become slow or completely unavailable, thereby jeopardizing availability, which is one of the core principles of the CIA triad in information security (Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability).

In the context of data security, maintaining availability means ensuring that authorized users have reliable access to information and resources whenever they need it. Denial of service attacks are specifically designed to compromise this availability, making them a clear example of a threat in this domain.

Other events, while potentially impactful to data security, do not primarily focus on denial of access. Phishing attacks typically aim to steal credentials or information rather than make services unavailable. Virus infections can undermine integrity or availability, but the primary threat often relates to data corruption or loss. Data corruption also affects integrity, as it compromises the accuracy and reliability of the information. While these scenarios can disrupt services, they do not focus solely on the denial of access as a denial of service attack does.