application security consultant Interview Questions and Answers

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Application Security Consultant Interview Questions

  1. What is the OWASP Top 10?

    • Answer: The OWASP Top 10 is a regularly updated list of the most critical web application security risks. It's a prioritized list of common vulnerabilities and serves as a valuable resource for developers and security professionals to focus their efforts on mitigating the most impactful threats. Each item typically includes a description, potential impacts, how to prevent it, and how to detect it. It's not an exhaustive list, but a great starting point for any security assessment.

  2. Explain the difference between authentication and authorization.

    • Answer: Authentication is verifying the identity of a user or system. It answers the question "Who are you?". Authorization is determining what a user or system is allowed to access after authentication. It answers the question "What are you allowed to do?". For example, authentication might involve a username and password, while authorization might involve checking if a user has permission to access a specific file or database.

  3. What is a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack? How can it be prevented?

    • Answer: A Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attack occurs when malicious scripts are injected into otherwise benign and trusted websites. This allows attackers to steal cookies, session tokens, or other sensitive information from unsuspecting users. Prevention methods include input validation and sanitization (escaping special characters), using parameterized queries (preventing SQL injection which can be a vector for XSS), output encoding (encoding special characters before displaying them to the user), and employing a web application firewall (WAF).

  4. What is SQL injection? How can it be prevented?

    • Answer: SQL injection is a code injection technique used to attack data-driven applications, in which malicious SQL statements are inserted into an entry field for execution (e.g., to dump the database contents to the attacker). Prevention involves using parameterized queries or prepared statements, input validation and sanitization, least privilege access controls for database users, and escaping special characters in user-supplied data. Regular security audits and penetration testing are crucial.

  5. Describe the different types of authentication methods.

    • Answer: Authentication methods include password-based authentication (username/password), multi-factor authentication (MFA) (e.g., combining password with a one-time code from an authenticator app), biometric authentication (fingerprint, facial recognition), token-based authentication (JWT, OAuth), certificate-based authentication (digital certificates), and public key infrastructure (PKI).

  6. What is a vulnerability scanner? What are some popular ones?

    • Answer: A vulnerability scanner is an automated tool used to identify security weaknesses in computer systems and networks. They typically work by probing systems for known vulnerabilities using databases of exploits and known weaknesses. Popular vulnerability scanners include Nessus, OpenVAS, QualysGuard, and Acunetix.

  7. What is a penetration test? What are the different types?

    • Answer: A penetration test, or pen test, is a simulated cyberattack against a computer system, network, or application to identify security vulnerabilities. Types include black box (tester has no prior knowledge), white box (tester has full knowledge), grey box (tester has partial knowledge), and external (focuses on external network perimeter), internal (focuses on internal systems).

  8. Explain the concept of secure coding practices.

    • Answer: Secure coding practices are techniques and methodologies used to develop software that is resistant to security vulnerabilities. This includes input validation, output encoding, proper error handling, secure authentication and authorization mechanisms, avoiding hardcoded credentials, and using secure libraries and frameworks. Regular code reviews and static/dynamic analysis are also key.

  9. What is the difference between static and dynamic application security testing (SAST and DAST)?

    • Answer: SAST analyzes application source code without executing it, identifying vulnerabilities early in the development lifecycle. DAST analyzes the running application from the outside, simulating attacks to identify vulnerabilities in the deployed application.

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