Which term describes the use of multiple compromised machines to perform a coordinated attack?

The term that describes the use of multiple compromised machines to perform a coordinated attack is a botnet. A botnet is essentially a network of infected computers, often referred to as "zombies," that are controlled by an attacker to execute various types of malicious activities. These activities can include distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, where the botnet floods a targeted system with traffic to overwhelm it, or the dissemination of spam and malware, among other malicious tasks.

In the context of incident handling and cybersecurity, understanding botnets is crucial because they can significantly amplify the power of an attack. The compromised devices in a botnet can be located worldwide, making the attack difficult to trace and mitigate. By leveraging the computational power of many machines, attackers can execute operations that would be unfeasible if relying on a single device.

Other terms provided in the options refer to different concepts: a Man-in-the-Middle attack involves intercepting communication between two parties to eavesdrop or alter messages, phishing is a social engineering technique aimed at tricking individuals into revealing sensitive information, and brute force refers to a method of breaking into accounts by systematically guessing passwords. These do not involve the coordinated use of multiple compromised machines like a botnet does. Understanding