What is a SYN flood attack, and how does it relate to LOIC?

A SYN flood is a type of DDoS attack that exploits the TCP handshake process. It overwhelms the target server with SYN (synchronization) requests but doesn't complete the handshake, leaving the server with many half-open connections. While LOIC primarily focuses on HTTP requests, it can be used in conjunction with other techniques like SYN floods to increase the overall attack volume. SYN floods are particularly effective at exhausting server resources.