While attending a job interview, one should have the confidence and the clarity to crack it effortlessly. These expert-selected Cyber Security interview questions will make you familiar with the most frequently asked questions for you to prepare well for your next Cyber Security interview. It is segregated into three categories as Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Cyber Security questions and answers to give you an easy walkthrough. Let’s dive into it!

1. What is cryptography?
   Cryptography aids to secure information from third parties who are called adversaries. It allows only the sender and the recipient to access the data securely.

2. What is traceroute? Mention its uses.
   Traceroute is a network diagnostic tool. It helps track the route taken by a packet that is sent across the IP network. It shows the IP addresses of all the routers it pinged between the source and the destination.

Uses:

It shows the time taken by the packet for each hop during the transmission.
When the packet is lost during the transmission, the traceroute will identify where the point of failure is.
3. What is a firewall? Mention its uses.
A firewall is a network security device/system, which blocks malicious traffic such as hackers, worms, malware, and viruses.

Uses:

It monitors the incoming and outgoing network traffic. It permits or allows only data packets that agree to the set of security rules.
It acts as a barrier between the internal network and the incoming traffic from external sources like the Internet.

4. What is a three-way handshake?
   It is a process that happens in a TCP/IP network when you make a connection between a local host and the server. It is a three-step process to negotiate acknowledgment and synchronization of packets before communication starts.

5. What is a response code? List them.
   HTTP response codes indicate a server’s response when a client makes a request to the server. It shows whether an HTTP request is completed or not.

1xx: Informational

The request is received, and the process is continuing. Some example codes are:

100 (continue)
101 (switching protocol)
102 (processing)
103 (early hints)
2xx: Success

The action is received, understood, and accepted successfully. A few example codes for this are:

200 (OK)
202 (accepted)
205 (reset content)
208 (already reported)
3xx: Redirection

To complete the request, further action is required to take place. Example codes:

300 (multiple choice)
302 (found)
308 (permanent redirect)
4xx: Client Error

The request has incorrect syntax, or it is not fulfilled. Here are the example codes for this:

400 (bad request)
403 (forbidden)
404 (not found)
5xx: Server Error

The server fails to complete a valid request. Example codes for this are:

500 (internal server error)
502 (bad gateway)
511 (network authentication required)

6. What is the CIA triad?
   It is a security model to ensure IT security. CIA stands for confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Confidentiality: To protect sensitive information from unauthorized access.
Integrity: To protect data from deletion or modification by an unintended person.
Availability: To confirm the availability of the data whenever needed.
7. What are the common cyberattacks?
Here is a list of common cyberattacks aimed at inflicting damage to a system.

Man in the Middle: The attacker puts himself in the communication between the sender and the receiver. This is done to eavesdrop and impersonate to steal data.
Phishing: Here, the attacker will act as a trusted entity to perform malicious activities such as getting usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers.
Rogue Software: It is a fraudulent attack where the attacker fakes a virus on the target device and offers an anti-virus tool to remove the malware. This is done to install malicious software into the system.
Malware: Malware is a software that is designed to attack the target system. The software can be a virus, worm, ransomware, spyware, and so on.
Drive-by Downloads: The hacker takes advantage of the lack of updates on the OS, app, or browser, which automatically downloads malicious code to the system.
DDoS: This is done to overwhelm the target network with massive traffic, making it impossible for the website or the service to be operable.
Malvertising: Malvertising refers to the injections of maleficent code to legitimate advertising networks, which redirect users to unintended websites.
Password Attacks: As the name suggests, here, the cyber hacker cracks credentials like passwords.

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