Satisfactory Answers For The Toughest Cybersecurity Interview Conducted CISSP Interview Questions

A CISSP Certification transforms a mere IT security professional into a master and not a jack of all trades. An employer can judge the caliber of a CISSP by the way he/she responds to the former’s questions. Compared to the rampant growth of cyber attacks, only 140,000 or more of the global population is CISSP-certified. A survey in 2020 reveals this detail that affirms the severe need for more certified individuals to take over.

Coming into effect in 1994, the CISSP Certification continues to be the crest jewel of IT security certifications to date. Its significant position easily conveys the degree of skillfulness and knowledge it validates in an individual. So, it is natural for recruiters to expect a relatively higher potential in them than from mere cybersecurity professionals. To apply the knowledge for the precise answering of interview questions one must stay prepared. Here, is a glimpse of what one can expect from the CISSP Job interviewer and vice-versa.


‘Vulnerability’ refers to the minutest gap in a safety measure. ‘Threat’ is what attacks that weakness. ‘Risk’ stands for the possibility of that attack as a result of the defect present in a specific IT security technique. Thus, all three terms are interconnected while all the CISSP domains are centered around them.

The dearth of funding for advanced security software is one of the prominent causes. Secondly, the lack of implementing or observing the updated cybersecurity measures. The scarcity of the required qualification to tackle such challenges could be another obvious reason.

Qualitative and quantitative analyses are regarded as the most appropriate methods for reporting information security risks. Both commercial and technical professionals benefit from risk reporting. It becomes easier for technical experts to assess the frequency of cyberattacks while businesspeople become alert to future losses.

Easy identification of data security breaches calls for regular and active monitoring of DNS. One could tell by viewing any disruption in the DNS entries that a cyber attack has occurred especially if the attack is DNS-based.

Data manipulation by a third party can be prevented by securing the communication between the application and the user. Tunneling or VPN will keep unauthorized intrusion during communication, in check.

Encoding isn’t a security measure but a kind of data compilation for the convenience of opening, viewing or running it. On the other hand, encryption is a data security lock that is virtually unbreakable. It is the combination of an algorithm and cipher, which is used to secure communication between two parties.

Data compression is very significant before it is transmitted and provides two striking benefits. It minimizes the bandwidth requirements that in turn encourage speedy data transfer. Compression results in data encryption to leave no gaps for unauthorized meddling with the information within the sent data packets. This process ascertains maximum data security.

Less is the chance of unauthorized interception of data when the data is compressed before encryption. It provides an additional security layer to the encrypted data. Information present in this compressed archive is very tough to decipher. Encryption is an essential procedure for protecting data during its transmission irrespective of its kind.

Data security in cloud computing calls for the implementation of an IT infrastructure with sections for individual networks. This prevents the contamination of an entire site during an accidental malware infection. Secondly, the information available in the separate segments of the cloud computing network must be managed centrally.

A cipher is used for hiding a plain-text message within another message. Cryptography makes the text scrambled only for being interpreted by the receiver and the sender. This keeps the information secure only between the two parties.

Asymmetric keys are the ones used in the transmission and reception of messages. These include both public and private keys used in message decoding by the recipient as well as the sender. A digital signature is a tool for identifying whether an asymmetric key is genuine or not.

Managing role-based access of users to an organization’s information assets/resources is the key. For this purpose, users first have to be segregated into different groups with individual responsibilities. The unnecessary access to information that isn’t required by a user to accomplish his/her task can be spotted easily.

A ‘social engineering attack’ is one where the attacker makes the victim forcibly reveal the latter’s password. The former may use any of the direct communication methods such as email or phone.

IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) is an official contract enabling nearby communication tools and routers to send data packets. This agreement allows the delivery of packets across a network instead of directly delivering them to the recipient site. Such as in the case of a game or video streaming.

Access management often leads to access leakages. This usually occurs when any member of its staff receives a promotion along with new responsibilities. As a result, one has to depart from the management domain thereby, leaving behind a gap until it is filled in. Access management facilitates both rule-based and role-based access to resources to not allow any unwanted interference.

VPN(Virtual Private Network) is the solution for a secure remote connection between users. This acts like a tunnel between the public internet and their private network. It is highly effective in concealing the information sent from the personal computer to the organizational network.

A warm site is built in a manner such that it takes no time in getting active when it has to. On the other hand, hot spots are fully operational and even act as load balancers in certain situations.

Disaster recovery solely concentrates on the protection of crucial organizational IT services. BCP(Business Continuity Planning) is more of a protective umbrella. It ensures that the IT-related functions stay uninterrupted along with the other business operations. Migration and COOP are two of the multiple business continuity plans.

Data categorization is essential to determine information sensitivity and secrecy levels. It also ensures that from data access to deletion, a piece of information is in the right hands. This makes safeguarding the data easier for IT security management.

Two kinds of firewalls exist at present for organizational usage. These are, namely, the web application and network firewalls. The first of the two fights against cyber attacks occurring through web applications. It has the capacity of filtering web traffic through 7 layers while a network firewall is limited to 3 layers.

Honeypots are mock targets established to identify the extent to which attackers can exploit them. This gives a beforehand idea of the means of cyber attacks and solutions to keep them in check.

To detect vulnerabilities in network infrastructure, computer systems, and applications, and prioritize them is called vulnerability assessment. An organization highly benefits from this process since it provides all the necessary information for preventing cybersecurity threats. Also termed ‘pen-testing’ or ‘ethical hacking’, penetration testing not just detects the possible risks but even checks their exploitation by hackers. Besides, this technique aims at enhancing the WAF (Web Application Firewall).

Null session functioning for web applications denotes security issues in identifying the initiation of unknown information access requests. It doesn’t accept an unauthorized user’s password or username.

Information assurance ensures the secrecy, authentication, and availability of data. Information security prevents illegal access to data with the help of security software and other means of data encryption.

Data-based security defines the security measures implemented within an enterprise’s IT infrastructure. Free from any network connectivity, this system facilitates the tracking of data irrespective of its access, storage, or connection type. Perimeter-based security inspects the attempts of a hacker and stops any dubious infiltration efforts by them. This prevents them from breaking into an organization’s private network of information.

DNS stands for Domain Name System. DNS is a service that keeps IP addresses in a hierarchical address database and converts human-readable web addresses into computer-readable ones. DNS monitoring may aid in the prevention of targeted attacks, and the easy identification of any security breaches.

This question aids in understanding candidates' knowledge of the different types of cybersecurity risk. They can list risks such as Phishing attacks, Social engineering attacks, Ransomware, DDoS attacks, Zero-Day Exploits, IoT (Internet of Things) Risks, and Advanced Persistent Threats.

Man-in-the-middle attack (MITM) occurs when a hacker places himself in the middle of a user-application conversation to either eavesdrop or pretend to be one of the parties. The hacker uses this method to steal personal data, including credit card numbers, login credentials, and account details.

Hashing is a one-way encryption technique that prevents the original input from being recovered by reversing it. Cybersecurity professionals use the hashing technique to reduce a huge block of input data to a smaller fixed-length string as the output.

TLS (Transport Layer Security) is considered more secure than SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). Since TLS has undergone several iterations with enhancements to fix problems discovered in previous SSL versions.

The four different DNS server types are DNS Recursor, Root Name Server, TLD Nameserver, and Authoritative Nameserver. Every type contributes to the overall functioning and performance of the DNS system.

The interviewer wants to gauge your knowledge of different DNS Record Types. So list different types of DNS Records such as A Records, MX Records, CERT Records, NS Records, CNAME Records, NAPTR Records, PTR Records, and TXT Records.

The interviewer asks this question to determine your familiarity with types of man-in-the-middle attacks. CISSP professionals can list attacks such as Wi-Fi eavesdropping, IP Spoofing, Secure Sockets Layer hijacking, Domain Name System spoofing, HTTPS Spoofing, Cache poisoning, ARP Spoofing, E-mail Hacking, Session Hacking and MITB attack.

Session hijacking occurs when hackers obtain passwords and personal information from a user's browser session's cookies. Unauthorized access to cookies allows attackers to assume the identity of the victim, which leads to the risk of account access, theft of private data, and even financial losses.

Commonly used Hashing algorithms are CRC32 (Cyclic Redundancy Check), Blake2, MD5 (Message Digest 5), Family of the Secure Hash Algorithm, MurmurHash, and RIPEMD (RACE Integrity Primitives Evaluation Message Digest).

Hashing provides security to an organization’s cyber system. So I use hashing to Storage Password, to encrypt and decrypt digital signatures, index data, recognize files, secure written documents, erase duplicate files, and verify the authenticity of data.

HTTPS spoofing is malicious manipulation of the security mechanisms included in HTTPS. It happens when a user communicates with an HTTPS-enabled website and an attacker intercepts or modifies that communication. HTTP spoofing is the practice of cybercriminals building false websites that expertly imitate the look of legitimate ones.

ARP spoofing or ARP poisoning enables attackers to eavesdrop on network device communications. Hackers can use it to change or prevent all traffic between devices on the network and to intercept conversations between network devices.

Cryptography is a fundamental building block of cybersecurity, which uses codes to secure communications and information so that only the intended recipient can decipher and process it. It guarantees the privacy of sensitive data.

Interview ask this question to understand your knowledge about Brute Force Attacks. List out types of Brute Force Attacks such as Simple Brute Force Attacks, Dictionary Attacks, Hybrid Brute Force Attacks, Reverse Brute Force Attacks, and Credential Stuffing.

The attacker creates counterfeit websites and obtains fake SSL/TLS certificates for their false websites. then trick browsers into visiting their phony websites by manipulating their behavior. Attackers get sensitive information from users after they enter it, such as credit card numbers, login passwords, or personal information.

A cyber risk report is a written summary of the threats to an organization's cybersecurity. It includes Potential threats, vulnerabilities, and the efficacy of current security procedures. The report gives the organization's present cybersecurity condition and helps make informed decisions about risk-reduction tactics.

Network traffic analysis (NTA) is a method of monitoring network availability and activity to identify abnormalities, such as security and operational problems. It is also employed for inter-asset communications monitoring, business network monitoring, and recording and analysis of network traffic patterns.

A cryptographic mechanism called the Diffie-Hellman key exchange enables two parties to safely create a shared secret key over an unsecured communication channel. It functions by enabling two parties to decide on a shared secret key across an unprotected channel, keeping the key secret and preventing any third party from discovering it.

I deployed firewalls to monitor and regulate incoming and outgoing network traffic, set up a VPN service to establish a secure and encrypted connection between remote devices and the office network, and made sure that remote workers' devices had the latest versions of security software, such as antivirus and anti-malware apps.

Phishing is an attempt to get private information to use or sell it. This information is usually in the form of usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, bank account information, or other critical data. It is an act of sending phony emails that seem to be from a reliable source.

Disaster Recovery Plans (DRPs), are organized and recorded procedures, to recover and restore their business operations and IT systems in the case of a disruptive occurrence or disaster. It lessens the financial impact, data loss, and downtime following a calamity..

The Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) is a communications protocol used by hosts and adjacent routers on an Internet Protocol (IP) network to establish multicast group memberships. IGMP is used for online conferences, gaming, and video streaming.

Denial-of-service (DoS) aims to bring down a computer or network so that the intended users cannot use it. These attacks work by overloading or flooding a targeted computer with requests until regular traffic cannot be handled, causing more users to experience a denial of service.

Social engineering is a non-technical technique that hackers employ to take advantage of psychological weaknesses in people and coerce them into disclosing private information or taking activities that might jeopardize security. Attacker takes advantage of people's innate tendency to trust others by using strategies including manipulation, deceit, and persuasion.