GIAC Foundational Cybersecurity Technologies Practice Test 2025 – All-in-One Guide to Master Your Certification!

A Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) primarily involves exploiting the trust that a web application has in the user's browser. In a CSRF attack, a malicious actor tricks a user into unknowingly submitting a request to a web application where they are authenticated. This often occurs when the user is logged into a site and the attack causes the browser to send an unwanted request that performs actions on behalf of the user without their consent or knowledge.

For instance, if a user is authenticated on a banking website and visits a malicious site that sends a request to transfer money, the banking site may execute the transaction because it perceives the request as valid due to the user's authenticated session. The key factor in CSRF attacks is the trust established between the web application and the user's browser, which the attacker exploits to carry out potentially harmful actions without the user's intention.

The other options relate to different concepts. Transmitting files safely refers to secure file transfer methods, enhancing website security involves various protective measures against vulnerabilities, and network encryption pertains to the techniques used to encode data traveling over a network. These do not capture the essence of what a CSRF attack entails.