Cyber Security Interview Questions and Answers for freshers

1. What is cybersecurity?

   • Answer: Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction.

2. What are the different types of cyber threats?

   • Answer: Types of cyber threats include malware (viruses, worms, Trojans), phishing attacks, denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, SQL injection, man-in-the-middle attacks, ransomware, zero-day exploits, and social engineering.

3. Explain the CIA triad in cybersecurity.

   • Answer: The CIA triad represents Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. Confidentiality ensures only authorized users can access data. Integrity ensures data accuracy and prevents unauthorized modification. Availability ensures data and systems are accessible to authorized users when needed.

4. What is a firewall?

   • Answer: A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.

5. What is the difference between a virus and a worm?

   • Answer: A virus needs a host program to spread, while a worm is a self-replicating program that can spread independently across networks.

6. What is phishing?

   • Answer: Phishing is a cyberattack where malicious actors attempt to trick individuals into revealing sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by disguising themselves as a trustworthy entity in electronic communication.

7. What is a denial-of-service (DoS) attack?

   • Answer: A DoS attack floods a network or system with traffic, making it unavailable to legitimate users.

8. What is a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack?

   • Answer: A DDoS attack is a DoS attack launched from multiple sources, making it harder to mitigate.

9. What is SQL injection?

   • 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 a database).

10. What is a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack?

    • Answer: A MITM attack intercepts communication between two parties to eavesdrop or manipulate the communication.

11. What is ransomware?

    • Answer: Ransomware is malware that encrypts a victim's files and demands a ransom for decryption.

12. What is a zero-day exploit?

    • Answer: A zero-day exploit takes advantage of a software vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor.

13. What is social engineering?

    • Answer: Social engineering is the art of manipulating individuals into divulging confidential information or performing actions that compromise security.

14. What is a vulnerability?

    • Answer: A vulnerability is a weakness in a system or application that can be exploited by attackers.

15. What is an exploit?

    • Answer: An exploit is a piece of software, code, or a technique used to take advantage of a vulnerability.

16. What is a security audit?

    • Answer: A security audit is a formal examination of an organization's security posture to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses.

17. What is penetration testing?

    • Answer: Penetration testing is a simulated cyberattack to identify vulnerabilities in a system or network.

18. What is intrusion detection?

    • Answer: Intrusion detection is the process of monitoring systems and networks for malicious activity.

19. What is intrusion prevention?

    • Answer: Intrusion prevention involves actively blocking malicious activity before it can cause damage.

20. What is cryptography?

    • Answer: Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior.

21. What is encryption?

    • Answer: Encryption is the process of converting readable data into an unreadable format (ciphertext) to protect it from unauthorized access.

22. What is decryption?

    • Answer: Decryption is the process of converting encrypted data (ciphertext) back into its original readable format (plaintext).

23. What is a digital signature?

    • Answer: A digital signature is a cryptographic technique used to verify the authenticity and integrity of digital data.

24. What is a certificate authority (CA)?

    • Answer: A CA is a trusted third party that issues digital certificates.

25. What is a public key infrastructure (PKI)?

    • Answer: PKI is a system for creating, managing, distributing, storing, and revoking digital certificates and managing public-key cryptography.

26. What is two-factor authentication (2FA)?

    • Answer: 2FA requires two different methods of authentication to verify a user's identity.

27. What is multi-factor authentication (MFA)?

    • Answer: MFA is similar to 2FA but can use more than two authentication factors.

28. What is a virtual private network (VPN)?

    • Answer: A VPN creates a secure connection over a less secure network, encrypting data transmitted between devices.

29. What is a security information and event management (SIEM) system?

    • Answer: A SIEM system collects and analyzes security logs from various sources to detect and respond to security threats.

30. What is a security operations center (SOC)?

    • Answer: A SOC is a centralized team responsible for monitoring and responding to security incidents.

31. What is incident response?

    • Answer: Incident response is the process of handling security incidents, from detection to recovery.

32. What is risk management?

    • Answer: Risk management is the process of identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks to an organization's assets.

33. What is a vulnerability scanner?

    • Answer: A vulnerability scanner is a software tool used to identify security vulnerabilities in systems and applications.

34. What is a network intrusion detection system (NIDS)?

    • Answer: A NIDS monitors network traffic for malicious activity.

35. What is a host-based intrusion detection system (HIDS)?

    • Answer: A HIDS monitors activity on a single host (computer) for malicious activity.

36. What is the difference between symmetric and asymmetric encryption?

    • Answer: Symmetric encryption uses the same key for encryption and decryption, while asymmetric encryption uses separate keys for encryption and decryption (public and private keys).

37. What are some common security best practices?

    • Answer: Strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, regular software updates, antivirus software, firewalls, secure Wi-Fi, data backups, and security awareness training.

38. What is the importance of security awareness training?

    • Answer: Security awareness training educates employees about cybersecurity threats and best practices to prevent attacks.

39. What is a security policy?

    • Answer: A security policy is a document that outlines an organization's security goals, rules, and procedures.

40. What is data loss prevention (DLP)?

    • Answer: DLP is a set of technologies and processes used to prevent sensitive data from leaving an organization's control.

41. What is access control?

    • Answer: Access control is the process of restricting access to resources based on user identity and permissions.

42. What is authentication?

    • Answer: Authentication is the process of verifying the identity of a user or device.

43. What is authorization?

    • Answer: Authorization is the process of determining what a user or device is allowed to access after authentication.

44. What is a honeypot?

    • Answer: A honeypot is a decoy system designed to attract and trap attackers.

45. What is a sandbox?

    • Answer: A sandbox is an isolated environment used to run untrusted software without risking the main system.

46. What is ethical hacking?

    • Answer: Ethical hacking is the practice of using hacking techniques to identify vulnerabilities in a system or network with the permission of the owner.

47. What is a computer virus?

    • Answer: A computer virus is a type of malicious software that spreads by attaching itself to other programs or files.

48. What is a Trojan horse?

    • Answer: A Trojan horse is a type of malware that disguises itself as legitimate software to trick users into installing it.

49. What is a rootkit?

    • Answer: A rootkit is a type of malware that provides privileged access to a computer system.

50. What is a botnet?

    • Answer: A botnet is a network of compromised computers controlled by a single attacker.

51. What is a firewall rule?

    • Answer: A firewall rule defines the conditions under which network traffic is allowed or denied.

52. What is a security policy exception?

    • Answer: A security policy exception is a deviation from a security policy, usually for a specific reason.

53. What is a security audit log?

    • Answer: A security audit log is a record of security-related events.

54. What is a security incident?

    • Answer: A security incident is any event that compromises or threatens to compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of an organization's assets.

55. What is a security breach?

    • Answer: A security breach is a successful compromise of an organization's security defenses, resulting in unauthorized access to sensitive data or systems.

56. What is data encryption?

    • Answer: Data encryption is the process of transforming readable data into an unreadable format to protect it from unauthorized access.

57. What is key management?

    • Answer: Key management is the process of creating, storing, distributing, and destroying cryptographic keys.

58. What is a digital certificate?

    • Answer: A digital certificate is an electronic document that verifies the identity of an individual or organization.

59. What is a security assessment?

    • Answer: A security assessment is an evaluation of an organization's security posture to identify vulnerabilities and risks.

60. What is a risk register?

    • Answer: A risk register is a document that lists identified risks, their likelihood, impact, and mitigation strategies.

61. What is a business continuity plan (BCP)?

    • Answer: A BCP is a plan to ensure an organization can continue operating during and after a disruptive event.

62. What is a disaster recovery plan (DRP)?

    • Answer: A DRP is a plan to restore an organization's IT systems and data after a disaster.

63. What is compliance?

    • Answer: Compliance is adherence to relevant laws, regulations, and standards.

64. What is GDPR?

    • Answer: GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a European Union regulation on data protection and privacy.

65. What is CCPA?

    • Answer: CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) is a California law that gives consumers more control over their personal data.

66. What is HIPAA?

    • Answer: HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) is a US law that protects the privacy and security of health information.

67. What is PCI DSS?

    • Answer: PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is a set of security standards for organizations that handle credit card information.

68. Explain the importance of security patching.

    • Answer: Security patching is crucial to fix vulnerabilities in software that attackers could exploit. Regular patching minimizes the risk of successful attacks.

69. Describe different types of malware.

    • Answer: Malware encompasses various types, including viruses, worms, Trojans, ransomware, spyware, adware, rootkits, and botnets, each with different mechanisms of infection and harmful effects.

70. What is the difference between authentication and authorization?

    • Answer: Authentication verifies *who* you are, while authorization determines *what* you are allowed to do.

71. What is a Zero Trust Security model?

    • Answer: Zero Trust assumes no implicit trust granted to any user, device, or network, irrespective of location. Every access request is verified before granting access.

72. How can you protect yourself from phishing attacks?

    • Answer: Verify email addresses, URLs, and sender legitimacy. Be wary of suspicious links or attachments. Never provide sensitive information via email.

73. What is a digital footprint?

    • Answer: A digital footprint is the trail of data you leave behind while using the internet or digital devices.

74. How can you secure your personal information online?

    • Answer: Use strong passwords, enable multi-factor authentication, be cautious about sharing personal information online, use anti-virus software, keep software updated, and be aware of phishing attempts.

75. What is the importance of data backups?

    • Answer: Data backups are crucial for business continuity and disaster recovery. They allow for data restoration in case of data loss due to hardware failure, malware attacks, or natural disasters.

76. What are some common social engineering techniques?

    • Answer: Phishing, baiting, quid pro quo, pretexting, tailgating, and baiting are some examples.

77. What is the role of a Security Analyst?

    • Answer: A security analyst monitors systems and networks for security threats, investigates security incidents, implements security controls, and develops security policies.

78. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

    • Answer: (This requires a personalized answer. Focus on relevant technical skills and areas for improvement, showing self-awareness.)

79. Why are you interested in a career in cybersecurity?

    • Answer: (This requires a personalized answer reflecting genuine interest and passion for the field.)

80. Tell me about a time you faced a challenging technical problem. How did you overcome it?

    • Answer: (This requires a personalized answer showcasing problem-solving skills and technical abilities.)

81. Where do you see yourself in five years?

    • Answer: (This requires a personalized answer showing career ambition and goals within cybersecurity.)

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