What technique would a hacker use to target the availability of network services?

Compromising hosts with bot malware is a technique that can significantly target the availability of network services. When a hacker infects multiple computers with bot malware, they essentially create a botnet - a network of compromised machines that can be controlled remotely. By utilizing this botnet, the hacker can launch Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, overwhelming the target's servers or services with a massive volume of traffic. This flood of requests can exhaust the resources of the targeted network services, leading to unavailability for legitimate users.

This method is particularly disruptive because it leverages the combined power of many compromised systems, making it difficult for the targeted service to defend against such an assault. The primary objective in these scenarios is to disrupt access to the network services rather than just breaking into the systems for data theft or other malicious activities.

Other techniques, while potentially harmful, do not focus primarily on availability in the same way that using bot malware does. For instance, injecting scripts may aim more at exploiting vulnerabilities for data theft or control rather than causing a service outage. Authorized access is typically intended for legitimate purposes, and defacing websites addresses integrity or reputation rather than availability.