The field of Cyber Security has become one of the most sought career fields of this age. The career aspirants of this field also seek competition, and to grab a job opportunity, they are required to be the best today. Possessing important security skills is not the complete job done, and to qualify the interview is an important phase of your career as there you have to present what you have in an effective manner. 

Here are the fifteen important Cyber Security questions you can prepare before appearing at a Cyber Security profession’s job. 

1) What is Cyber Security?

Cyber Security is the field protecting hardware, software and data from malicious cyber attackers. The main objective of the field of Cyber Security is to protect the information systems within an organization from accessing, modifying, or destroying useful information.

2) Explain the difference between a threat, a vulnerability, and a risk.

A threat is from someone aiming at the existing vulnerabilities (or weakness) in the applications of an organization that could not be detected and mitigated since it was not properly identified as a risk, a condition where threat and vulnerability overlap. 

Vulnerability or weakness is a security program that can be exploited by threats to launch unauthorized access to the systems of an organization.

3) What is a Firewall and why is it used?

A Firewall is a network security program that is implemented on the boundaries of the systems & networks and monitors and controls the entire network traffic. It is particularly used to protect the systems & networks from viruses, worms, malware, etc. It can also prevent remote access and content filtering.

4) What is the difference between IDS and IPS?

IDS stands for Intrusion Detection System and detects intrusions and administrator has to look after preventing the intrusion. Whereas, in IPS i.e. Intrusion Prevention System help information systems within organizations to detect intrusion and take necessary actions to prevent such threats.

5) What are the differences between HTTPS, SSL, and TLS?

HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure and its main job is to secure communications over a network. TLS stands for transport layer security and is a successor protocol to SSL. You can elaborate the differences between the three and how network-related protocols are utilized to comprehend the inherent risks involved.

6) What is the difference between symmetric and asymmetric encryption?

Symmetric encryption refers to the same key used to encrypt and decrypt, while asymmetric encryption uses different keys for encryption and decryption. Asymmetric encryption is generally utilized to protect an initial key-sharing conversation, but then the actual conversation is secured using symmetric crypto. 

7) How is Encryption different from Hashing?

Although Both Encryption and Hashing are utilized to transform the readable data into an unreadable format. The main difference is that the encrypted data can be converted back to original data through a process of decryption but the hashed data cannot be converted back to original data.

8) What is a VPN?

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. It is a network connection terminology for mapping an encrypted and safe connection. VPN secures data from unnecessary interference, snooping, censorship.

9) Define Cryptography.

It is the practice and study of methods used to secure information and communication particularly from third parties what the data is not intended for. It only allows the designated senders and receivers of messages to read its details. 

10) What are the different layers of the OSI model?

An OSI model is a reference model describing how different applications interact on a network. The main objective of the OSI reference model is to guide vendors and developers so the digital communication products and software programs can be used interoperably.

Below-mentioned are the seven OSI layers:

11) What is SQL Injection and how can you prevent it?

• Physical Layer
• Data Link Layer
• Network Layer
• Transport Layer
• Session Layer
• Presentation Layer
• Application Layer

It is a code injection attack where an attacker manipulates the data that is being sent to the server to execute malicious SQL statements to exploit a web application’s database server, thus accessing, modifying and erasing unauthorized data. This type of attack is mainly utilized to exploit database servers.

You can secure your systems from SQL Injection attacks by following the following best practices:

• By using prepared statements
• By using Stored Procedures
• By validating user input

12) Have you attended any Cyber Security Certification? If yes, what specialties of Cyber Security have you learned there?

Attending a cyber security certification is not merely limited to studying security information, but it also comprises other applications in the real-world scenarios. Since cybercrime has been always transforming, security needs of systems follow suit, and you are required to be ready with the latest techniques to tackle such a variety of threats and challenges that organizations witness.

13) Explain Black hat hackers.

Black hat hackers possess a good knowledge of breaking into computer networks. They write malware that is used to gain access to vulnerable systems. This type of hackers misuse their skills to exploit information by hacking into the systems for malicious purposes.

14) Explain White hat hackers.

White hat hackers utilize their knowledge for good objectives thus they are also known as Ethical Hackers. They are hired by business organizations as a security specialists who try to detect and fix vulnerabilities and security holes in the systems.

14) Explain Grey hat hackers.

Grey hat hackers possess an amalgamation of work-objectives of white hat and black hat hackers. They detect system vulnerabilities without the owner’s permission and then report them to the owner. Unlike Black hat hackers, they do not exploit the detected vulnerabilities to perform attacks. 

If you are a fresher, it would be the best practice for you to pursue a Cyber Security Certification to get ahead in the field of Cyber Security as there are many organizations that would expect a basic knowledge of Cyber Security tools and techniques from you. A credible certification can help you to have adequate knowledge of Cyber Security to qualify the interview easily.

Wishing you good luck with your career.