Network Security Interview Questions And Answers For Experienced. Here Coding compiler sharing a list of 53 interview questions on Network Security. These Network Security questions and answers were asked in various Networking interviews. This list will help you to crack your next Network Security job interview. All the best for future and happy learning.
Network Security Interview Questions
- What is Network Security?
- How does network security work?
- What are the different types of network security?
- What is a firewall?
- What is Intrusion prevention systems (IPS)?
- What is a VPN?
- What is Ransomware?
- How does ransomware work?
- Can you give me some Ransomware variants?
- What is Phishing?
- How does phishing work?
- What are the types of phishing attacks?
- What are the benefits of the firewall?
- What is Proxy firewall?
- What is Stateful inspection firewall?
Network Security Interview Questions And Answers
1) What is Network Security?
A) Network security consists of the policies and practices adopted to prevent and monitor unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of a computer network and network-accessible resources.
2) How does network security work?
A) Network security combines multiple layers of defenses at the edge and in the network. Each network security layer implements policies and controls. Authorized users gain access to network resources, but malicious actors are blocked from carrying out exploits and threats.
3) What are the different types of network security?
A) There are many different types of network security features are available, they are:
Access control, Antivirus and antimalware software, Application security, Behavioral analytics, Data loss prevention, Email security, Firewalls, Intrusion prevention systems, Mobile device security, Network segmentation, Security information and event management, VPN, Web security, Wireless security, etc.
4) What is a firewall?
A) Firewalls put up a barrier between your trusted internal network and untrusted outside networks, such as the Internet. They use a set of defined rules to allow or block traffic. A firewall can be hardware, software, or both.
5) What is Intrusion prevention systems (IPS)?
A) An intrusion prevention system (IPS) scans network traffic to actively block attacks.
6) What is a VPN?
A) A virtual private network encrypts the connection from an endpoint to a network, often over the Internet. Typically, a remote-access VPN uses IPsec or Secure Sockets Layer to authenticate the communication between device and network.
Ransomware Network Security Interview Questions
7)What is Ransomware?
A) Ransomware is a type of malicious software, also known as malware. It encrypts a victim’s data until the attacker is paid a predetermined ransom. Typically, the attacker demands payment in a form of cryptocurrency such as bitcoin. Only then will the attacker send a decryption key to release the victim’s data.
8) How does ransomware work?
A) Ransomware is typically distributed through a few main avenues. These include email phishing, malvertising (malicious advertising), and exploit kits. After it is distributed, the ransomware encrypts selected files and notifies the victim of the required payment.
9) Can you give me some Ransomware variants?
A) Ransomware variants of all types are discovered through the powerful research of Talos, our world-class threat intelligence group. To find out more about recent threats such as CryptoLocker, WannaCry, TeslaCrypt, Nyetya, and more.
Phishing Network Security Interview Questions
10) What is Phishing?
A) Phishing is the practice of sending fraudulent communications that appear to come from a reputable source. It is usually done through email. The goal is to steal sensitive data like credit card and login information, or to install malware on the victim’s machine.
11) How does phishing work?
A) Phishing starts with a fraudulent email or other communication that is designed to lure a victim. The message is made to look as though it comes from a trusted sender. If it fools the victim, he or she is coaxed into providing confidential information, often on a scam website. Sometimes malware is also downloaded onto the target’s computer.
12) What are the types of phishing attacks?
A) There are various types of phishing attacks are there, they are:
Deceptive phishing – Deceptive phishing is the most common type of phishing. In this case, an attacker attempts to obtain confidential information from the victims. Attackers use the information to steal money or to launch other attacks.
Spear phishing – Spear phishing targets specific individuals instead of a wide group of people. Attackers often research their victims on social media and other sites. That way, they can customize their communications and appear more authentic.
Whaling – When attackers go after a “big fish” like a CEO, it’s called whaling. These attackers often spend considerable time profiling the target to find the opportune moment and means of stealing login credentials.
Pharming – Similar to phishing, pharming sends users to a fraudulent website that appears to be legitimate. However, in this case, victims do not even have to click a malicious link to be taken to the bogus site. Attackers can infect either the user’s computer or the website’s DNS server and redirect the user to a fake site even if the correct URL is typed in.
Firewall Network Security Interview Questions
13) What are the benefits of the firewall?
A) A firewall is a network security device that monitors incoming and outgoing network traffic and decides whether to allow or block specific traffic based on a defined set of security rules.
Firewalls have been a first line of defense in network security for over 30 years. They establish a barrier between secured and controlled internal networks that can be trusted and untrusted outside networks, such as the Internet.
A firewall can be hardware, software, or both.
14) What is Proxy firewall?
A) An early type of firewall device, a proxy firewall serves as the gateway from one network to another for a specific application. Proxy servers can provide additional functionality such as content caching and security by preventing direct connections from outside the network.
15) What is Stateful inspection firewall?
A) Now thought of as a “traditional” firewall, a stateful inspection firewall allows or blocks traffic based on state, port, and protocol. It monitors all activity from the opening of a connection until it is closed. Filtering decisions are made based on both administrator-defined rules as well as context, which refers to using information from previous connections and packets belonging to the same connection.
16) What is UTM firewall?
A) Unified threat management (UTM) firewall – A UTM device typically combines, in a loosely coupled way, the functions of a stateful inspection firewall with intrusion prevention and antivirus. It may also include additional services and often cloud management.
17) What is Next-generation firewall (NGFW)?
A) Firewalls have evolved beyond simple packet filtering and stateful inspection. Most companies are deploying next-generation firewalls (NGFW) to block modern threats such as advanced malware and application-layer attacks.
According to Gartner, a next-generation firewall must include:
Standard firewall capabilities like stateful inspection
Integrated intrusion prevention
Application awareness and control to see and block risky apps
Upgrade paths to include future information feeds
Techniques to address evolving security threats
18) What is Threat-focused NGFW?
A These firewalls include all the capabilities of a traditional NGFW and also provide advanced threat detection and remediation. With a threat-focused NGFW you can:
Know which assets are most at risk with complete context awareness
Quickly react to attacks with intelligent security automation that sets policies and hardens your defenses dynamically
Better detect evasive or suspicious activity with network and endpoint event correlation
Greatly decrease the time from detection to cleanup with retrospective security that continuously monitors for suspicious activity and behavior even after initial inspection
Ease administration and reduce complexity with unified policies that protect across the entire attack continuum
Malware Network Security Interview Questions
19) What is Malware?
A) Malware is intrusive software that is designed to damage and destroy computers and computer systems. Malware is a contraction for “malicious software.” Examples of common malware include viruses, worms, Trojan viruses, spyware, adware, and ransomware.
20) What is the difference between a virus and malware?
A) Viruses are a subgroup of malware. Other types of malware include viruses, worms, Trojan viruses, spyware, adware, and ransomware.
21) What are Worms?
A) Worms are a malicious software that rapidly replicates and spreads to any device within the network. Unlike viruses, worms do not need host programs to disseminate. A worm infects a device via a downloaded file or a network connection before it multiplies and disperses at an exponential rate. Like viruses, worms can severely disrupt the operations of a device and cause data loss.
22) What is Trojan Virus?
A) Trojan viruses are disguised as helpful software programs. But once the user downloads it, the Trojan virus can gain access to sensitive data and then modify, block, or delete the data. This can be extremely harmful to the performance of the device. Unlike normal viruses and worms, Trojan viruses are not designed to self-replicate.
23) What is Spyware?
A) Spyware is malicious software that runs secretly on a computer and reports back to a remote user. Rather than simply disrupting a device’s operations, spyware targets sensitive information and can grant remote access to predators. Spyware is often used to steal financial or personal information. A specific type of spyware is a keylogger, which records your keystrokes to reveal passwords and personal information.
24) What is Adware?
A) Adware is malicious software used to collect data on your computer usage and provide appropriate advertisements to you. While adware is not always dangerous, in some cases adware can cause issues for your system.
Adware can redirect your browser to unsafe sites, and it can even contain Trojan horses and spyware. Additionally, significant levels of adware can slow down your system noticeably. Because not all adware is malicious, it is important to have the protection that constantly and intelligently scans these programs.
VPN Network Security Interview Questions
25) Why do we use Virtual Private Network?
A) A virtual private network, or VPN, is an encrypted connection over the Internet from a device to a network. The encrypted connection helps ensure that sensitive data is safely transmitted. It prevents unauthorized people from eavesdropping on the traffic and allows the user to conduct work remotely.
26) How does a virtual private network (VPN) work?
A) A VPN extends a corporate network through encrypted connections made over the Internet. Because the traffic is encrypted between the device and the network, traffic remains private as it travels. An employee can work outside the office and still securely connect to the corporate network. Even smartphones and tablets can connect through a VPN.
27) What is secure remote access?
A) Secure remote access provides a safe, secure way to connect users and devices remotely to a corporate network. It includes VPN technology that uses strong ways to authenticate the user or device. VPN technology is available to check whether a device meets certain requirements, also called a device’s posture, before it is allowed to connect remotely.
28) Is VPN traffic encrypted?
A) Yes, traffic on the virtual network is sent securely by establishing an encrypted connection across the Internet known as a tunnel. VPN traffic from a device such as a computer, tablet, or smartphone is encrypted as it travels through this tunnel.
29) What are the different types of VPNs?
A) There are two types for VPNs are there, they are:
Remote access
Site-to-site
30) What is Remote Access VPN?
A) A remote access VPN securely connects a device outside the corporate office. These devices are known as endpoints and may be laptops, tablets, or smartphones. Advances in VPN technology have allowed security checks to be conducted on endpoints to make sure they meet a certain posture before connecting. Think of remote access as computer to network.
31) What is Site-to-site VPN?
A) A site-to-site VPN connects the corporate office to branch offices over the Internet. Site-to-site VPNs are used when distance makes it impractical to have direct network connections between these offices. Dedicated equipment is used to establish and maintain a connection. Think of site-to-site access as network to network.
32) What is Cybersecurity?
A) Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from digital attacks. These attacks are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information; extorting money from users; or interrupting normal business processes.
33) What is Spam?
A) Spam is unsolicited and unwanted junk email sent out in bulk to an indiscriminate recipient list. Typically, spam is sent for commercial purposes. It can be sent in massive volume by botnets, networks of infected computers.
DDoS Attack Network Security Interview Questions
34) What Is a DDoS Attack?
A distributed-denial-of-service, or DDoS, attack is the bombardment of simultaneous data requests to a central server. The attacker generates these requests from multiple compromised systems.
In doing so, the attacker hopes to exhaust the target’s Internet bandwidth and RAM. The ultimate goal is to crash the target’s system and disrupt its business.
35) How long can a DDoS attack last?
A) The length of a DDoS attack varies. Attacks like the Ping of Death can be quick. The Slowloris attack takes longer to develop. According to a Radware report, 33 percent of DDoS attacks last an hour, 60 percent last less than a full day, and 15 percent last as long as a month.
36) What are the types fo DDoS Attacks?
A) There are three general types of DDoS attacks are there, they are:
Volume-based attacks (UDP flood, ICMP flood)
Application attacks (HTTP flood, Slowloris)
Protocol attacks (SYN flood, Ping of Death)
37) What is UDP flood?
A) UDP flood: User Datagram Protocol (UDP) floods attack random ports on a remote server with requests called UDP packets. The host checks the ports for the appropriate applications. When no application can be found, the system responds to every request with a “destination unreachable” packet. The resulting traffic can overwhelm the service.
38) What is ICMP flood?
A) ICMP (ping) flood: An Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) flood sends ICMP echo request packets (pings) to a host. Pings are common requests used to measure the connectivity of two servers. When a ping is sent, the server quickly responds. In a ping flood, however, an attacker uses an extensive series of pings to exhaust the incoming and outgoing bandwidth of the targeted server.
39) What is HTTP flood?
A) HTTP flood – An HTTP flood is a Layer 7 application attack that uses botnets, often referred to as a “zombie army.” In this type of attack, standard GET and POST requests flood a web server or application. The server is inundated with requests and may shut down. These attacks can be particularly difficult to detect because they appear as perfectly valid traffic.
40) What is Slowloris?
A) Slowloris – Named after the Asian primate, the Slowloris moves slowly. The attack sends small portions of an HTTP request to a server. These portions are sent in timed intervals, so the request does not time out, and the server waits for it to be completed. These unfinished requests exhaust bandwidth and affect the server’s ability to handle legitimate requests.
41) What is SYN flood?
A) SYN flood: In a SYN flood attack, the attacker sends seemingly normal SYN requests to a server, which responds with a SYN-ACK (synchronized-acknowledgment) request. Typically, a client then sends back an ACK request, and a connection is made. In a SYN flood attack, the attacker does not respond with a final ACK. The server is left with a large number of unfinished SYN-ACK requests that burden the system.
42) What is Ping of Death?
A) Ping of Death – In a Ping of Death attack, the attacker tries to crash or freeze a server by sending a normal ping request that is either fragmented or oversized. The standard size of an IPv4 header is 65,535 bytes. When a larger ping is sent, the targeted server will fragment the file. Later, when the server formulates a response, the reassembly of this larger file can cause a buffer overload and crash.
Shadow IT Network Security Interview Questions
43) What Is Shadow IT?
A) Shadow IT is the use of IT-related hardware or software by a department or individual without the knowledge of the IT or security group within the organization. It can encompass cloud services, software, and hardware.
44) What are the different aspects of shadow IT?
A) Shadow IT includes all forms of IT-related activities and purchases that the IT department isn’t involved in. These purchases can consist of:
Hardware: servers, PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones
Off-the-shelf packaged software
Cloud services: including software as a service (SaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS)
45) What Is Network Access Control?
A) Network access control, or NAC, solutions support network visibility and access management through policy enforcement on devices and users of corporate networks.
46) Why is it important to have a NAC solution?
A) With organizations now having to account for exponential growth of mobile devices accessing their networks and the security risks they bring, it is critical to have the tools that provide the visibility, access control, and compliance capabilities that are required to strengthen your network security infrastructure.
47) What Is Data Loss Prevention (DLP)?
A) Data loss prevention, or DLP, is a set of technologies, products, and techniques that are designed to stop sensitive information from leaving an organization.
A NAC system can deny network access to noncompliant devices, place them in a quarantined area, or give them only restricted access to computing resources, thus keeping insecure nodes from infecting the network.
48) How does DLP work?
A) DLP technologies use rules to look for sensitive information that may be included in electronic communications or to detect abnormal data transfers. The goal is to stop information such as intellectual property, financial data, and employee or customer details from being sent, either accidentally or intentionally, outside the corporate network.
49) What is Information Security?
A) Information security, often referred to as InfoSec, refers to the processes and tools designed and deployed to protect sensitive business information from modification, disruption, destruction, and inspection.
50) What is the difference between cybersecurity and information security?
A) Information security and cybersecurity are often confused. InfoSec is a crucial part of cybersecurity, but it refers exclusively to the processes designed for data security. Cybersecurity is a more general term that includes InfoSec.
51) What is an information security management system (ISMS)?
A) An ISMS is a set of guidelines and processes created to help organizations in a data breach scenario. By having a formal set of guidelines, businesses can minimize risk and can ensure work continuity in case of a staff change. ISO 27001 is a well-known specification for a company ISMS.
52) What is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)?
A) In 2016, the European Parliament and Council agreed on the General Data Protection Regulation. In the spring of 2018, the GDPR began requiring companies to:
provide data breach notifications
appoint a data-protection officer
require user consent for data processing
anonymize data for privacy
All companies operating within the EU must comply with these standards.
53) What is Cloud Security?
A) Cloud security focuses on building and hosting secure applications in cloud environments and securely consuming third-party cloud applications. “Cloud” simply means that the application is running in a shared environment. Businesses must make sure that there is adequate isolation between different processes in shared environments. Source
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