Which attack focuses on overwhelming the biometric capture device with various inputs?

The focus of this question is on the type of attack that aims to overwhelm a biometric capture device by using various inputs. The correct answer relates to brute force methods, which involve trying a large number of inputs until the correct one is found or until a system is overwhelmed.

In the context of biometric systems, a brute force attack can be understood as a method that inundates the device with numerous attempts to match different biometric traits. For instance, if the system is designed to recognize fingerprints, an attacker could attempt to use a multitude of fingerprint samples in a rapid succession. By overwhelming the system with too many inputs, it may become ineffective or may even malfunction.

This attack exploits the fact that biometric systems have certain limitations, such as the number of attempts they allow before taking protective action. The objective is to bypass security by saturating the system with different inputs, thereby hoping to find one that matches or to disrupt its normal operation.

The other attack options do not align with the concept of overwhelming a biometric device in such a way. Replay attacks focus on intercepting and reproducing valid authentication data rather than overwhelming devices. Phishing entails deceiving users into providing sensitive information, and cryptographic attacks deal with exploiting weaknesses in these algorithms to obtain cryptographic keys or