List of Relevant and Important Cyber Security Interview Questions and Answers 2021
JEROME MICHAEL EBRUPHIYO
Thursday, July 22, 2021
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Cybercrime, also called computer crime, the use of a computer as an instrument to further illegal ends, such as committing fraud, trafficking in child pornography and intellectual property, stealing identities, or violating privacy. The most common cyber threats include: Hacking - including of social media and email passwords. Phishing - bogus emails asking for security information and personal details. Malicious software – including ransomware through which criminals hijack files and hold them to ransom. This article will provide the list of relevant and important Cyber security interview questions and answers 2021 as well as frequently asked interview questions.
Cybersecurity refers to the protection of hardware, software, and data from attackers. The primary purpose of cyber security is to protect against cyberattacks like accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information.
They include;
Information security
Network security
Operational security
Application security
End-user education
Business continuity planning
It protects the business against ransomware, malware, social engineering, and phishing
It protects end-users
It gives good protection for both data as well as networks
Increase recovery time after a breach
Cybersecurity prevents unauthorized users
It is a technique used to protect information from third parties called adversaries. Cryptography allows the sender and recipient of a message to read its details.
Intrusion Detection System (IDS) detects intrusions. The administrator has to be careful while preventing the intrusion. In the Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), the system finds the intrusion and prevent it.
Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) is a popular model which is designed to develop a security policy. CIA model consists of three concepts:
Confidentiality: Ensure the sensitive data is accessed only by an authorized user
Integrity: Integrity means the information is in the right format
Availability: Ensure the data and resources are available for users who need them
It is a security system designed for the network. A firewall is set on the boundaries of any system or network which monitors and controls network traffic. Firewalls are mostly used to protect the system or network from malware, worms, and viruses. Firewalls can also prevent content filtering and remote access.
It is a tool that shows the packet path. It lists all the points that the packet passes through. Traceroute is used mostly when the packet does not reach the destination. Traceroute is used to check where the connection breaks or stops or to identify the failure.
HIDS is used to detect the intrusions while NIDS is used for the network. HIDS monitors suspicious system activities and traffic of a specific device and NIDS monitors the traffic of all device on the network.
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. It is a technology creating encrypted connections between a web server and a web browser. It is used to protect the information in online transactions and digital payments to maintain data privacy.
Data leakage is an unauthorized transfer of data to the outside world. Data leakage occurs via email, optical media, laptops, and USB keys.
It is a trial-and-error method to find out the right password or PIN. Hackers repetitively try all the combinations of credentials. In many cases, brute force attacks are automated where the software automatically works to login with credentials. There are ways to prevent Brute Force attacks:
Setting password length
Increase password complexity
Set limit on login failures
It is the technique for identifying open ports and service available on a specific host. Hackers use port scanning technique to find information for malicious purposes.
Physical Layer
Data Link Layer
Network Layer
Transport Layer
Session Layer
Presentation Layer
Application Layer
VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. It is a network connection method for creating an encrypted and safe connection. This method protects data from interference, snooping, censorship.
Black hat hackers are people who have a good knowledge of breaching network security. These hackers can generate malware for personal financial gain or other malicious reasons. They break into a secure network to modify, steal, or destroy data so that the network can not be used by authorized network users.
White hat hackers or security specialist are specialized in penetration testing. They protect the information system of an organization.
Grey hat hackers are computer hacker who sometimes violate ethical standards, but they do not have malicious intent.
Remove CMOS battery
By utilizing the software
By utilizing a motherboard jumper
By utilizing MS-DOS
A MITM or Man-in-the-Middle is a type of attack where an attacker intercepts communication between two persons. The main intention of MITM is to access confidential information.
It is a protocol used for finding MAC address associated with IPv4 address. This protocol work as an interface between the OSI network and OSI link layer.
It's a number of internet-connected devices like servers, mobile devices, IoT devices, and PCs that are infected and controlled by malware.
The main difference between these two is that SSL verifies the identity of the sender. SSL helps you to track the person you are communicating to. TLS offers a secure channel between two clients.
CSRF stands for Cross-Site Request Forgery.
TFA stands for Two Factor Authentication. It is a security process to identify the person who is accessing an online account. The user is granted access only after presenting evidence to the authentication device.
Symmetric encryption requires the same key for encryption and decryption. On the other hand, asymmetric encryption needs different keys for encryption and decryption.
XSS stands for cross-site scripting.
WAF stands for Web Application Firewall. WAF is used to protect the application by filtering and monitoring incoming and outgoing traffic between web application and the internet.
Hacking is a process of finding weakness in computer or private networks to exploit its weaknesses and gain access. For example, using password cracking technique to gain access to a system.
A Hacker is a person who finds and exploits the weakness in computer systems, smartphones, tablets, or networks to gain access. Hackers are well experienced computer programmers with knowledge of computer security.
Network sniffing is a tool used for analyzing data packets sent over a network. This can be done by the specialized software program or hardware equipment. Sniffing can be used to:
Capture sensitive data such as password
Eavesdrop on chat messages
Monitor data package over a network
Yong domains are easily infected with malicious software. You need to use DNS monitoring tools to identify malware.
Salting is that process to extend the length of passwords by using special characters. To use salting, it is very important to know the entire mechanism of salting. The use of salting is to safeguard passwords. It also prevents attackers testing known words across the system. For example, Hash("QxLUF1bgIAdeQX") is added to each and every password to protect your password. It is called as salt.
SSH stands for Secure Socket Shell or Secure Shell. It is a utility suite that provides system administrators secure way to access the data on a network.
SSL verifies the sender's identity, but it does not provide security once the data is transferred to the server. It is good to use server-side encryption and hashing to protect the server against a data breach.
Black box testing is a software testing method in which the internal structure or program code is hidden while White box testing is a software testing method in which internal structure or program is known by tester.
Vulnerabilities refer to the weak point in software code which can be exploited by a threat actor. They are most commonly found in an application like SaaS (Software as a service) software.
It is a process used in a network to make a connection between a local host and server. This method requires the client and server to negotiate synchronization and acknowledgment packets before starting communication.
It is a threat that balances risk exposure after finding and eliminating threats.
Three ways to deal with risk are: Reduce it, Avoid it and Accept it.
Data exfiltration refers to the unauthorized transfer of data from a computer system. This transmission may be manual and carried out by anyone having physical access to a computer.
An exploit is a method utilized by hackers to access data in an unauthorized way. It is incorporated into malware.
It is the process of checking exploitable vulnerabilities on the target. In web security, it is used to augment the web application firewall.
Following are the common cyber-attacks which can be used by hackers to damage network: Malware, Phishing, Password attacks, DDoS, Man in the middle, Drive-by downloads, Malvertising and Rogue software
In order to authenticate users, they have to provide their identity. The ID and Key can be used to confirm the user's identity. This is an ideal way how the system should authorize the user.
Cross-site scripting refers to a network security vulnerability in which malicious scripts are injected into websites. This attack occurs when attackers allow an untrusted source to inject code into a web application.
Internet Group Management Protocol or IGMP is a communication protocol that is used in game or video streaming. It facilitates routers and other communication devices to send packets.
Use cipher algorithm to protect email, credit card information, and corporate data.
Public Wi-Fi has many security issues. Wi-Fi attacks include karma attack, sniffing, war-driving, brute force attack, etc. Public Wi-Fi may identify data that is passed through a network device like emails, browsing history, passwords, and credit card data.
Data encryption is a technique in which the sender converts the message into a code. It allows only authorized user to gain access.
Diffie-Hellman is a protocol used while exchanging key between two parties while RSA is an algorithm that works on the basis two keys called private and public key.
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is developed by Microsoft, which provides GUI to connect two devices over a network. The user uses RDP client software to serve this purpose while other device must run RDP server software. This protocol is specifically designed for remote management and to access virtual PCs, applications, and terminal server.
Forward Secrecy is a security measure that ensures the integrity of unique session key in event that long term key is compromised.
IV stands for the initial vector is an arbitrary number that is used to ensures that identical text encrypted to different ciphertexts. Encryption program uses this number only once per session.
Stream cipher operates on small plaintext units while Block cipher works on large data blocks. Stream cipher requires less code while Block cipher requires more code. Key is used only once in stream cipher while Reuse of key is possible in block cipher. stream cipher is applicable in Secure Socket layer while block cipher is applicable in File encryption and database. Stream cipher is used to implement hardware while Block cipher is used to implement software.
They are; RCx, Blowfish, Rijndael (AES) and DES
The full form of ECB is Electronic Codebook, and the full form of CBC is Cipher Block Chaining.
Buffer overflow attack is an attack that takes advantage of a process that attempts to write more data to a fixed-length memory block.
Spyware is a malware that aims to steal data about the organization or person. This malware can damage the organization's computer system.
It is a mechanism of assigning the user account to an unknown user.
SRM stands for Security Reference Monitor provides routines for computer drivers to grant access rights to object.
A virus is a malicious software that is executed without the user's consent. Viruses can consume computer resources, such as CPU time and memory. Sometimes, the virus makes changes in other computer programs and insert its own code to harm the computer system.
A computer virus may be used to:
Access private data like user id and passwords
Display annoying messages to the user
Corrupt data in your computer
Log the user's keystrokes
Authenticode is a technology that identifies the publisher of Authenticode sign software. It allows users to ensure that the software is genuine and not contain any malicious program.
CryptoAPI is a collection of encryption APIs which allows developers to create a project on a secure network.
Update ownership of file
Keep your webserver updated
Disable extra modules in the webserver
Delete default scripts
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer or MBSA is a graphical and command-line interface that provides a method to find missing security updates and misconfigurations.
Ethical hacking is a method to improve the security of a network. In this method, hackers fix vulnerabilities and weakness of computer or network. Ethical hackers use software tools to secure the system.
Social engineering is the term used to convince people to reveal confidential information. There are mainly three types of social engineering attacks: Human-based, Mobile-based, and Computer-based.
IP Address is the acronym for Internet Protocol address. An internet protocol address is used to uniquely identify a computer or device such as printers, storage disks on a computer network. MAC Address is the acronym for Media Access Control address. MAC addresses are used to uniquely identify network interfaces for communication at the physical layer of the network.
A Worm is a type of malware which replicates from one computer to another.
Virus inserts malicious code into a specific file or program but Worm generate it's copy and spread using email client. Virus need a host program to work but worm do not require any host to function correctly. Virus is linked with .com, .xls, .exe, .doc, etc. but worm is linked with any file on a network. Virus is slower than worm.
Following are some tools used for packet sniffing:
Tcpdump, Kismet, Wireshark, NetworkMiner and Dsniff.
Antivirus is software tool that is used to identify, prevent, or remove the viruses present in the computer. They perform system checks and increase the security of the computer regularly.
Protocol Sniffing
Web password sniffing
Application-level sniffing
TCP Session stealing
LAN Sniffing
ARP Sniffing
It is an attack in which multiple computers attack website, server, or any network resource.
TCP session hijacking is the misuse of a valid computer session. IP spoofing is the most common method of session hijacking. In this method, attackers use IP packets to insert a command between two nodes of the network.
Using packet Sniffers
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS Attack)
IP Spoofing
Blind Attack
Hacking Tools are computer programs and scripts that help you find and exploit weaknesses in computer systems, web applications, servers, and networks. There are varieties of such tools available on the market. Some of them are open source, while others are a commercial solution.
Honeypot is a decoy computer system which records all the transactions, interactions, and actions with users. Honeypot is classified into two categories: Production honeypot and Research honeypot.
Tools available for encryptions are as follows: RSA, Twofish, AES and Triple DES
It is a malware type in which security mechanism is bypassed to access a system.
It is not right to send login credentials through email because if you send someone userid and password in the mail, chances of email attacks are high.
This rule is based on the percentage of network traffic, in which 80% of all network traffic should remain local while the rest of the traffic should be routed towards a permanent VPN.
It is a method used for a security breach in wireless networks. There are two types of WEP cracking: Active cracking and Passive cracking.
Well known WEP cracking tools are: Aircrack, WebDecrypt, Kismet and WEPCrack
Security auditing is an internal inspection of applications and operating systems for security flaws. An audit can also be done via line by line inspection of code.
It is a technique used to obtain a username, password, and credit card details from other users.
Nano encryption is a research area which provides robust security to computers and prevents them from hacking.
Security Testing is defined as a type of Software Testing that ensures software systems and applications are free from any vulnerabilities, threats, risks that may cause a big loss.
Security scanning involves identifying network and system weaknesses and later provides solutions for reducing these risks. This scanning can be performed for both Manual as well as Automated scanning.
Following is a list of useful hacking tools: Acunetix
WebInspect, Probably, Netsparker, Angry IP scanner, Burp Suite and Savvius
Financial sectors like stock trading exchanges, investment banking, want their data to be secured, and penetration testing is essential to ensure security. In case if the software system is already hacked and the organization would like to determine whether any threats are still present in the system to avoid future hacks.
Penetration testing cannot find all vulnerabilities in the system
There are limitations of time, budget, scope, skills of penetration testers
Data loss and corruption
Down Time is high which increase costs
Security threat is defined as a risk which can steal confidential data and harm computer systems as well as organization.
A physical threat is a potential cause of an incident that may result in loss or physical damage to the computer systems.
Loss of sensitive information
Loss or corruption of system data
Cyber security Breaches
Disrupt business operations that rely on computer systems
Illegal monitoring of activities on computer systems
Trojan is a malware employed by hackers and cyber-thieves to gain access to any computer. Here attackers use social engineering techniques to execute the trojan on the system.
It is an attack that poisons malicious SQL statements to database. It helps you to take benefit of the design flaws in poorly designed web applications to exploit SQL statements to execute malicious SQL code. In many situations, an attacker can escalate SQL injection attack in order to perform other attack, i.e. denial-of-service attack.
Security vulnerabilities as per open web application security project are as follows:
SQL Injection
Cross-site request forgery
Insecure cryptographic storage
Broken authentication and session management
Insufficient transport layer protection
Unvalidated redirects and forwards
Failure to restrict URL access
An access token is a credential which is used by the system to check whether the API should be granted to a particular object or not.
ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) Poisoning is a type of cyber-attack which is used to convert IP address to physical addresses on a network device. The host sends an ARP broadcast on the network, and the recipient computer responds back with its physical address. ARP poisoning is sending fake addresses to the switch so that it can associate the fake addresses with the IP address of a genuine computer on a network and hijack the traffic.
Following are various types of non-physical threats:
Trojans
Adware
Worms
Spyware
Denial of Service Attacks
Distributed Denial of Service Attacks
Virus
Key loggers
Unauthorized access to computer systems resources
Phishing
The sequence of a TCP connection is SYN-SYN ACK-ACK.
Hybrid attack is a blend of dictionary method and brute force attack. This attack is used to crack passwords by making a change of a dictionary word with symbols and numbers.
Nmap is a tool which is used for finding networks and in security auditing.
EtterPeak is a network analysis tool that is used for sniffing packets of network traffic.
There are two types of cyberattacks: 1) Web-based attacks, 2) System based attacks.
Some web-based attacks are: SQL Injection attacks, Phishing, Brute Force, DNS Spoofing, Denial of Service, and Dictionary attacks.
Virus
Backdoors
Bots
Worm
There are four types of cyber attackers: cybercriminals, hacktivists, insider threats, state-sponsored attackers.
They are threats that are accidently done by organization employees. In these threats, an employee unintentionally deletes any file or share confidential data with outsiders or a business partner going beyond the policy of the company.
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