Networking Question #1

What is a Firewall?

A Firewall prevents connection between two or more sources. It basically blocks any incoming or outgoing traffic.

Firewalls come in two forms: software or hardware firewalls.

Networking Question #2

Can you explain the difference between HTTP and HTTPS protocols?

HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol and is used by the majority of websites as a means of transmitting website data, and it allows for the use of hyperlinks.

This Protocol mostly uses TCP port 80. HTTPS is a secure version of the HTTP protocol that allows for identity verification and low level encryption using TCP port 443.

Networking Question #3

What is a VPN?

A VPN is a Virtual Private Network.  It allows users to create a secure connection over public networks such as the Internet.

VPN’s are commonly used by mobile workers in order to access their company’s network from remote locations.

Networking Question #4

What are two types of IP addresses and what are they used for?

All IPv4 IP addresses can be divided into two major groups: public and private IP addresses.

A public IP address is an IP address that is used to access the Internet. Public IP addresses are routed on the Internet.

Private internal IP addresses are not routed on the Internet and traffic cannot be sent to them from the Internet, they are only supposed to work within the local networks.

Networking Question #5

What is DNS?

DNS stands for Domain Name System.  It is basically the phonebook of the Internet. DNS translates domain names, for example www.google.com or www.youtube.com, to IP addresses so browsers can load those Internet resources through the Internet protocol.

Networking Question #6

What is a default route?

A default route is a configuration of the Internet Protocol (IP) that establishes a forwarding rule for packets when no specific address of a next-hop host is available from the routing table or other routing mechanism.

Networking Question #7

What is DHCP and what is it used for?

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol and it automatically assigns IP addresses to network devices.

It completely removes the process of manual allocation of IP addresses and reduces the errors caused due to this.

Networking Question #8

What is DoS?

DoS, or Denial-of-Service attack, is an attempt to prevent users from being able to access the Internet or any other network services.

Such attacks may come in different forms and are commonly performed by hackers. One common method of doing this is to overload a web server so that it can no longer process legitimate traffic.  Any website on this web server then becomes inaccessible.

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Microsoft Question #1

What is Active Directory and what is it used for?

Active directory is a directory service that identifies all resources on a network and makes that information available to users and services.

The main purpose of Active Directory is to control and authenticate network resources.

Microsoft Question #2

What are GPOs?

GPO stands for Group Policy Objects.  They are settings that control the working environment of user

and computer accounts.

GPO’s assist with defining the security options, software installation, registry-based policies and maintenance options, script options and folder redirection options.

Microsoft Question #3

What is Hyper-V?

Hyper-V is Microsoft’s virtualization tool for creating multiple virtual machines on a single physical server, thus reducing the cost of hardware and improving efficiency.

Hyper-V is technically known as a hypervisor.

Microsoft Question #4

What is Office 365?

Microsoft’s Office 365 is a subscription-based service that provides access to modern Office tools and other services like Teams, Groups, and more.

Office 365 comes with other tools like email clients, calendar applications, and meeting scheduler.

Microsoft Question #5

What is Office 365 governance?

Governance in Office 365 refers to the practical use of processes and policies towards meeting specific organizational goals.

It covers many areas  including compliance, security, planning,  IT, and technology.

Microsoft Question #6

What is Microsoft Azure?

Microsoft Azure, commonly referred to as Azure, is a cloud computing service created by Microsoft for building, testing, deploying, and managing applications and services through Microsoft-managed data centers.

Microsoft Question #7

What are the different types of services offered in the Azure cloud?

There are three different types of services offered in the Azure cloud: Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, and Software as a Service.

Microsoft Question #8

Which three billing models are the most common in Azure?

A traditional Enterprise Agreement if you are a big enterprise, Cloud Service Provider if you want to go through Microsoft Partner Services, and Pay-as-you-Go for small and medium sized companies and the general public.

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Linux Question #1

What is BASH?

Bash is a Unix shell and command language.  It has been used as the default login shell for most Linux

distributions. Bash typically runs in a text window where the user types commands that causes actions.

Linux Question #2

What is a root account?

The root account is like a system administrator account and allows you full control of the system.

With the root account you can create and maintain user accounts, and assign different permissions for each account. It is the default account every time you install Linux.

Linux Question #3

What three types of permissions are available on a Linux system?

The three types of permissions available of a Linux system are:

– Read: users may read files or list the directory

– Write: users may write to the file or add new files to the directory

– Execute: users may run the file, or lookup a specific file within a directory

Linux Question #4

What is grep command in Linux?

grep is a search command that makes use of pattern-based searching. It makes use of options and parameters that are specified along with the command line and applies this pattern in searching the required file output.

Linux Question #5

What is SSH?

SSH, or Secure Shell, is a protocol used to securely log onto remote systems. It is the most common way to access remote Linux and Unix-like servers. SSH uses TCP port 22 by default.

Linux Question #6

What is a cron job?

A Cron job is a time-based job scheduler for Unix-based computer operating systems. Users that set up and maintain software environments use cron to schedule jobs to run periodically at fixed times, dates, or intervals.

Linux Question #7

How do you create a new user in Linux based systems?

To add or create a new user, you have to use the command ‘useradd’ or ‘adduser’ with ‘username’. The ‘username’ is a user login name, that is used by the user to login to the system. Only one user can be added and that username must be unique.

Linux Question #8

What are the commands for creating and removing directories in Linux systems?

For creating the directory, Type “mkdir” and specify the directory name at the command prompt to make the directory.

Removing the directory can be done with the command “rmdir” and specifying the directory.

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Security Question #1

What is Cryptography?

Cryptography refers to secure information and communication techniques derived from mathematical concepts, and a set of rule-based calculations called algorithms, to transform messages in ways that are hard to decipher. These deterministic algorithms are used for cryptographic key generation, digital signing, verification to protect data privacy, web browsing on the internet, and confidential communications such as credit card transactions and email.

Security Question #2

What are IDS and IPS and what is their main difference?

IDS stands for Intrusion Detection System. It detects intrusions and the administrator has to take care of preventing the intrusion.

IPS stands for Intrusion Prevention System.  The system detects the intrusion and also takes actions to prevent the intrusion.

Security Question #3

In information security, what does the CIA acronym stand for, and what is it used for?

CIA stands for Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability. CIA is a model that is designed to guide policies for Information Security. It is one of the most popular models used by organizations.

Security Question #4

What is a Brute Force attack?

A Brute Force attack is a way of finding out the right credentials by repetitively trying all the permutations and combinations of possible credentials.

In most cases, brute force attacks are automated where the tool or software automatically tries to login with a list of credentials.

Security Question #5

What is a MITM attack?

MITM stands for Man-in-the-Middle. This is a type of attack where the hacker places himself in between the communication of two parties and steals the information.

Security Question #6

What is a Botnet?

A Botnet is a number of devices connected to the Internet where each device has one or more bots running on it.

The bots on the devices are malicious scripts used to hack a victim. Botnets can be used to steal data, send spam, and execute a DDOS attack.

Security Question #7

What is MFA and how can it be used?

MFA stands for Multi-Factor Authentication and it’s an electronic authentication method in which a computer user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence to an authentication mechanism: knowledge, possession, and inherence.

Security Question #8

What is SQL injection?

SQL Injection is a code injection attack where an attacker manipulates the data being sent to the server to execute malicious SQL statements.  It’s objective is to control a web application’s database server, thereby accessing, modifying and deleting unauthorized data. This attack is mainly used to take over database servers.

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AWS Cloud Question #1

What is auto-scaling?

Auto-scaling is a function that allows you to provision and launch new instances whenever there is demand.

It allows you to automatically increase or decrease resource capacity in relation to demand.

AWS Cloud Question #2

Is there any other alternative tool to log into the AWS cloud environment other than AWS console?

Yes, there are different ways to interact with your AWS account other than logging into the AWS console.

You can use AWS CLI which can run on Windows and Linux, and also use AWS SDK.

AWS Cloud Question #3

What is the difference between stopping and terminating an EC2 instance?

When you stop an EC2 instance, it performs a normal shutdown on the instance and moves to a stopped state.

However, when you terminate the instance, it is transferred to a stopped state, and the EBS volumes attached to it are deleted and can never be recovered.

AWS Cloud Question #4

What are the different types of EC2 instance pricing models?

There are three types of EC2 instance pricing models

• on-demand instances
• spot instances, and
• reserved instances.

AWS Cloud Question #5

What is RTO and RPO in AWS?

RTO or Recovery Time Objective is the maximum time your business or organization is willing to wait for a recovery to complete in the wake of an outage. On the other hand, RPO or Recovery Point Objective is the maximum amount of data loss your company is willing to accept as measured in time.

AWS Cloud Question #6

What are the different types of load balancers in AWS?

There are three types of load balancers in AWS: Application Load Balancers, Network Load Balancers, and Classic Load Balancers.

AWS Cloud Question #7

What is an AWS root user account?

When you first create an Amazon Web Services (AWS) account, you begin with a single sign-in identity that has complete access to all AWS services and resources in the account. This identity is called the AWS account root user.

You can sign in as the root user using the email address and password that you used to create the account.

AWS Cloud Question #8

What is AWS IAM and what is it used for?

AWS IAM stands for AWS Identity and Access Management. It enables you to manage access to AWS services and resources securely.

Using IAM, you can create and manage AWS users and groups, and use permissions to allow and deny their access to AWS resources.

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Soft Skills Question #1

What can you tell me about yourself?

You should talk a little bit about your current role including the scope and perhaps one big accomplishment, then give some background as to how you got there and any experience you have that’s relevant.

Finally, segway into why you want, and would be perfect for, the job for which you are interviewing.

Soft Skills Question #2

Why do you want to work for this Company?

Do your research and point to something that makes the company unique that really appeals to you. Talk about how you’ve watched the company grow and change since you first heard of it.

Focus on the organization’s opportunities for future growth and how you can contribute to it.

Soft Skills Question #3

Why should we hire you?

To answer this question effectively you need to craft a response that covers three things: that you can not only do the work, but also deliver great results.  You need to show that you’ll really fit in with the team and culture; and that you’d be a better hire than any of the other candidates.

Soft Skills Question #4

What are your greatest strengths?

When you’re answering this question, think quality, not quantity. In other words, don’t rattle off a list of

adjectives. Instead, pick one or a few specific qualities that are relevant to this position and illustrate

them with examples.

Soft Skills Question #5

What do you consider to be your weaknesses?

Strike a balance by thinking of something that you struggle with but that you’re working to improve.

For example, maybe you’ve never been strong at public speaking, but you’ve recently volunteered to run meetings to help you get more comfortable when addressing a crowd.

Soft Skills Question #6

Can you tell me about a time when you had to work with someone you weren’t compatible with?

This is a situation where you’ll want to keep things positive. Make sure that you don’t spend too much time focused on the conflict itself.  Focus more on what you did to make the situation better. After all, that’s the piece that your interviewer really wants to know.

Soft Skills Question #7

Can you tell me about a time when you overcame a significant challenge?

You haven’t made it this far in your career without encountering a single roadblock. So, thinking of a specific example shouldn’t be too hard. If you want to score some bonus points with your response to this question, don’t just think of a time when you overcame a challenge—think of a time when your ingenious solution actually resulted in something impressive for the company.

Soft Skills Question #8

Can you tell me about a time when things didn’t go according to plan? How did you cope?

This is a great opportunity where you want to draw attention to not only how you coped with unexpected changes, but also how you used those shifting circumstances to bounce back even better than before.

Soft Skills Question #9

Tell me about a time when you were asked to do something you had never done before. How did you react? What did you learn?

Adaptability is one of the most important soft skills hiring managers screen for, as it gives them insight into how candidates have approached doing something new. Explain briefly your positive attitude towards learning new things, as well as the approach you used to research topics that you are unfamiliar with.

Soft Skills Question #10

What are the three things that are most important to you in a job?

Asking this question on culture fit tells hiring managers what the candidate believes is most important in a job. The interviewer is looking for answers that align with company values. Do your research on the company and position that you are applying for, and align your answers accordingly.