IT Security Interview Help

Most interviews start with an introduction to your basic skills and personality and general knowledge about yourself for example, why did you leave your last job? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Describe yourself in 3 words etc. It is likely that interviews for an IT Security role would start with the same questions, however, as you are interviewing for a technical role, it is very likely that after a brief introduction to your character, the interview questions will become more in depth and test your expertise.

We have put together some frequently asked IT Security interview questions and answers to make sure you are prepared.

What is the difference between IT Security and Information Security?

  • IT Security focuses on technical controls such as applying antivirus and firewall systems. Whereas Information Security concentrates on securing information.

Can you explain a Man In The Middle attack?

  • This is an attack where a user gets in the middle of the sender and receiver of information and can steal any information being sent.

What is the different between proxy and firewall?

  • The firewall blocks ports and programs and prevents unauthorised people from gaining access to your network and the proxy server hides your network from the internet.

How does NAT work?

  • NAT allows a router to act as an agent between the internet and a local network. This means only a unique IP address is needed to represent a complete group of computers.

What are Honeypots?

  • A Honeypot is a system on the internet that is set up to draw in and trap people who try to enter other people’s computer systems.

What is a buffer overflow?

  • This is when a programme overruns the buffers boundary why writing data to the buffer, and overwrites adjacent memory.

Can you explain what a false positive is?

  • A false positive is one of the largest problems facing someone implementing an intrusion detection system. It is any expected behaviour that is identified as irregular or malicious.

Find Information Security jobs

In IT Security interviews, when answering technical questions it is advisable to keep your answers short and precise. This is a great way to come across as knowledgeable and more importantly, confident.

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by Charlotte Attwood