An attacker floods a network with excessive traffic, causing a denial-of-service (DoS). To mitigate this, a company installs intrusion prevention systems (IPS) to detect and block such threats. Which CIA principle is this protecting?

Encryption is primarily concerned with protecting data from unauthorized access by converting it into a secure format. While important for data security, encryption does not specifically address the availability of network resources. Therefore, it does not relate to the mitigation of DoS attacks, which aim to disrupt access rather than access unauthorized data.

Integrity refers to the assurance that data has not been altered or tampered with during transmission or storage. While IPS can contribute to maintaining data integrity by blocking malicious modifications, the primary aim in this scenario is to prevent service disruptions caused by excessive traffic, making integrity less relevant to the specific context of the DoS attack.

Confidentiality focuses on protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access or disclosure. Although IPS can help in securing data to some extent, the primary concern during a DoS attack is to maintain service availability rather than protecting the confidentiality of data.