What is a fundamental characteristic of an integrity attack?

A fundamental characteristic of an integrity attack is that it includes manipulating information transmitted over a network. Integrity attacks are aimed at compromising the accuracy and reliability of data. This manipulation can occur through various means, such as tampering with data during transmission, altering messages, or inserting false information. Such actions undermine the trustworthiness of the information, which is crucial for maintaining data integrity in various applications and communications.

While securing data and sending authentic packets are important aspects of data security, they do not directly define integrity attacks. They focus more on the protective measures rather than the malicious actions that compromise integrity. Traffic analysis pertains to observing and analyzing network traffic but does not inherently involve altering or manipulating the data itself, which is the essence of an integrity attack. Thus, the correct answer reflects the central concept of integrity attacks being the alteration of transmitted information.