Table of contents
1.
Introduction
2.
CISSP Recruitment Process
3.
Steps in CISSP Interview
3.1.
Phase 1: an icebreaker (20 percent )
3.2.
Phase 2: Management training and CISSP fundamentals (40 percent )
3.3.
Phase 3: CISSP application in practice (40 percent )
3.4.
Phase 4: Senior management in phase four (Optional)
4.
Commonly Asked CISSP Interview Questions 
4.1.
1. What do you intend to accomplish after earning your CISSP certification?
4.2.
2. How do audit trails benefit businesses?
4.3.
3. Why should there be so many different kinds of fire extinguishers on the floor?
4.4.
4. How significant are tools in an organization? What should one do if a device breaks down?
4.5.
5. How do you ensure remote workers are safely connected to the office network?
4.6.
6. Explain how firewall topologies explain different security zones.
4.7.
7. How can we best ensure connectivity between the ten office locations and the main office?
4.8.
8. How do phishing attacks work?
4.9.
9. How would you spot illegal network access?
4.10.
10. How crucial is internet security to a business?
4.11.
11. How many different firewalls are there, and what makes them different?
4.12.
12. Who and how do organizations categorize data? Why is this required?
4.13.
13. How do BCP and DR differ from one another?
4.14.
14. What distinguishes a warm site from a hot spot?
4.15.
15. Describe the various types of work you hope to oversee or manage.
4.16.
16. What procedure will be used if there is an incident?
4.17.
17. What can you tell us about access management?
4.18.
18. If you wanted to allow users to connect remotely, how would you set up the internal network so they could connect from the internet?
4.19.
19. Which Protocol Broadcasts Messages to All Devices?
4.20.
20. What Is A Denial Of Service Attack?
4.21.
21. What Exactly Is A Distributed Denial Of Service Attack?
4.22.
22. What Kind Of Attack Uses "salesmanship" And Conversations?
4.23.
23. What kind of access control permits several users from a group to access a resource?
4.24.
24. What Tools Are Available For Asymmetric Key Authentication?
4.25.
25. What Are Some Methods Of Message Hiding In Cryptography?
5.
Conclusion
Last Updated: May 16, 2024

Cissp Interview Questions

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Introduction

The CISSP managerial certification calls for at least five years of practical expertise in 2 of the eight security domains. It is a prestigious credential, the knowledge of which is highly valued, as well as its practical application. If a candidate has the CISSP, they will have an advantage when applying for managerial employment. The exam is more difficult because it gauges both the candidate's conceptual understanding and practical application skills.

Cissp Interview Questions

After observing a large portion of the CISSP interviews, it can be concluded that the information is testable rather than merely following the textbooks. If you understand the ideas, the interview won't be too difficult.

CISSP Recruitment Process

This is how the interview procedure works:

  • The team has reported a vacancy in the department.
     
  • Preparation for the job description: CISSP as a bonus.
     
  • The candidates are narrowed down by HR, and the CISSP will at the very least be another checkmark.
     
  • Your interview goes well.
CISSP Recruitment Process
  • Results and comments
     
  • Cissp interview questions prepration

Steps in CISSP Interview

As shown below, the interview procedure is primarily divided into four phases:

Phase 1: an icebreaker (20 percent )

A formal opening statement, followed by straightforward inquiries about the current organization, etc.: the seminar will also go over some fundamental topics, such as what constitutes a risk, what includes an incident, standard practices and frameworks, and current events pertinent to the case, etc. Two things are ensured by doing this: basic knowledge testing and establishing the interview's pace. To leave a good impression, ace this session.

Phase 2: Management training and CISSP fundamentals (40 percent )

The CISSP knowledge will be tested in this section with straightforward questions. This phase will verify that you have genuinely retained the information. Any errors made at this point could lead to unexpected conversations during the interview. Be careful of your words, and remember that you can say, "I don't know," one or two times.

Phase 3: CISSP application in practice (40 percent )

In this step, your experience will now speak. What have you accomplished over the years, and how have you utilized your CISSP training? (also, consider checking this perfect guide for CISM certification). Projects that you oversaw, difficulties you encountered and how you overcame them, etc. This shouldn't be a complex problem if the resume is not amplified.

Practice with Career Camp

Phase 4: Senior management in phase four (Optional)

Senior management may occasionally engage in a round; do not be alarmed; it will likely be a discussion round that will aid the management in making a candidate decision. You have a good chance of being chosen if you have made it this far.

Commonly Asked CISSP Interview Questions
 

1. What do you intend to accomplish after earning your CISSP certification?

Although the query is general, your interest in the subject may be revealed by your response. The CISSP certification expires if you don't keep getting better because it needs credit points to stay valid after three years. You might decide to enroll in quick courses, go to conferences, or do a CISSP focus course.

 

2. How do audit trails benefit businesses?

Organizations can benefit from audit trails in a variety of ways. They guarantee that the company continues to adhere to numerous requirements. Many standards, like PCI-DSS, mandate the preservation of audit trails for a predetermined time. They aid the investigating process if an occurrence necessitates a retracing of events. Audit trails can be used to obtain the specifics of events so that they can later be sorted according to timestamp, and a conclusion can be drawn.

PCI-DSS Compliant

 

3. Why should there be so many different kinds of fire extinguishers on the floor?

The industry and the type of work done on the floor determine the type of fire extinguishers. Type A (water) should be available if wood, paper, or other materials are anticipated to be involved in the fire. Use type B (foam) if combustible substances and oils cause the fire. Type C should be utilized if flammable gases cause a fire. Type D should be employed if the fire is anticipated to occur in a location where saving additional equipment is necessary, such as the server room.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.

 

4. How significant are tools in an organization? What should one do if a device breaks down?

A company shouldn't rely just on its tools. Tools are frequently used for two purposes: to complete tasks that cannot be achieved manually, like antivirus. The second is to finish a time-sensitive operation on schedule, like installing a firewall. We require a tool to speed up the tasks, which is the third reason. The staff should be sufficiently knowledgeable about the tools and how they operate. We can now identify what might have gone wrong if a tool malfunctions. It's risky to rely too heavily on the technologies. Thus, backup strategies or alternate ways need to be in place. It is possible to do appropriate maintenance and audits if a third party is involved. For good operation, hardware and software hygiene must be kept up.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.

 

5. How do you ensure remote workers are safely connected to the office network?

The staff members can use a VPN service. A virtual private network, or VPN, enables users to establish a tunnel to the office network via an unreliable network. Security tools, such as firewalls and access controls are still necessary. Two-factor authentication is needed for VPN services to improve the security architecture.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.

office network

6. Explain how firewall topologies explain different security zones.

If we talk about the architecture at a high level, there are three zones: the DMZ, the Office network, and the Untrusted Zone, which includes the Internet (demilitarized zone). Several common architectures include: Bastion hosts have a firewall between them and the internet despite being connected. A screened subnet is the second option. All public services are housed in a unique area called the DMZ, open to trustworthy and untrusted networks. Dual firewall architecture is the third and priciest topology; in this architecture, firewalls are placed between each of the three zones. With a firewall between them, the untrusted network can access the DMZ. With another firewall separating them, the trusted network can access the DMZ. This ensures that if the DMZ's services are hacked, another layer exists between the attackers and the web.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.

 

7. How can we best ensure connectivity between the ten office locations and the main office?

The offices could be linked in several different ways. One method uses ten T1 connections from various sites to the primary office. MPLS connections between the offices could be the second option. The best option is to use MPLS rather than T1 lines because T1 requires ten different T1 handling circuits at the headquarters, whereas MPLS does not.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.

 

8. How do phishing attacks work?

A phishing assault is a sort of social engineering in which individuals are persuaded to divulge private information by opening phony email attachments or links. This attack disperses malware, and networks are also compromised.

phishing attacks

9. How would you spot illegal network access?

Proper log monitoring is necessary to ensure that no evidence of unauthorized access exists. Servers can be set up to provide notifications when a login attempt succeeds or fails. A thorough monitoring program will make sure that any unauthorized access is discovered and that prompt action is taken to address it.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.

 

10. How crucial is internet security to a business?

The Internet cannot be opened like a freeway since it is an untrusted portion of the network. Although blocking the internet is a potential solution, most organizations depend on the internet for their operations. Corporate policies should limit Internet access. Access to some websites may be restricted, for example, by limiting the upload feature to stop data leaks.
 

11. How many different firewalls are there, and what makes them different?

A network firewall and a web application firewall are the two types of firewalls from an organizational perspective. While a web application can filter layer seven traffic and defend against web application attacks, a network firewall can only give security against layer three episodes.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.

different firewalls

12. Who and how do organizations categorize data? Why is this required?

Data can be categorized based on how sensitive the document is. Data may be marked as open, private, confidential, secret, top secret, or whatever the organization deems acceptable. The handling of that and who has access to them can then be determined using the document labels. Determine who has access to what information and how it is accessed, safeguarded, and deleted by using data classification.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.

 

13. How do BCP and DR differ from one another?

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning are both abbreviations for BCP. In a disaster, BCP acts as an over-arched umbrella to ensure that vital business functions are maintained. On the other hand, DR is IT-focused and ensures that critical IT services are protected. Different plans, such as COOP and migration plans, are included in the BCP.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.

 

14. What distinguishes a warm site from a hot spot?

Like the leading site, a hot spot is always operational. In some cases, a hot site can act as a load balancer. A warm place is not yet operational but is set up such that it may be activated quickly. Once the services are running, everything is ready to go.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.

 

15. Describe the various types of work you hope to oversee or manage.

the candidate's judgment will determine the response. The applicant can respond to this question by citing the jobs they have held in past organizations or by mentioning something novel they want to try. The management will be eager to hear your original ideas and how you can improve on what they already have.
 

16. What procedure will be used if there is an incident?

A company needs an incident management policy that outlines what must be done in the event of an occurrence. Prepare, Detect, Analyze, Contain, Eradicate, Recover, and Manage is possible steps in the event management cycle. Who will be responsible for what has to have their obligations made very clear? (An event example can be given here to illustrate the practical application of an incident response strategy. An organization may be the target of a Ransomware assault as an example.
 

17. What can you tell us about access management?

Although access management can be applied at the senior management's discretion, this results in access leakages as staff members depart, get promoted, or take on new responsibilities within an organization. Role-based access or rule-based access are both possible: With role-based access, everyone will be subject to the rules' requirements, regardless of their designation, positions, seniority, etc. Access will be allowed depending on a role inside the organization if it is role-based. A senior manager may have access to files that the other team members may not have. This will guarantee that access is not compromised.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.
 

18. If you wanted to allow users to connect remotely, how would you set up the internal network so they could connect from the internet?

VPN. Users can "tunnel" from the Internet to a private network via a virtual private network. The VPN encrypts user information and conceals data sent from the user's home computer to the private network, although a firewall and security would still be in place.
 

19. Which Protocol Broadcasts Messages to All Devices?

Internet Group Management Protocol is IGMP. It is a protocol for communication that enables nearby routers and communication tools to deliver packets over the entire network as opposed to directly to another site. Video and game streaming are its main uses of it.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.
 

20. What Is A Denial Of Service Attack?

A denial of service attack attempts to overload, crash, and make unavailable resources by sending a large number of packets to another network.
 

21. What Exactly Is A Distributed Denial Of Service Attack?

Hackers utilize distributed denial of service attacks by leveraging other computers that contain some sort of Trojan horse or virus that allows the attacker to use the system for a denial of service attack since routers can detect and block Denial of service assaults.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.
 

22. What Kind Of Attack Uses "salesmanship" And Conversations?

When an attacker uses the phone, email, or another form of communication to try to induce the victim to reveal their password, this is known as a social engineering attack.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions
 

23. What kind of access control permits several users from a group to access a resource?

Users are divided into groups using role-based access management. Then, particular parts of the network are given these buckets or responsibilities. This makes tracking users who have access to resources much simpler.
 

24. What Tools Are Available For Asymmetric Key Authentication?

To crack asymmetric keys, employ digital signatures. To transmit and receive messages, asymmetric keys are used. Messages are decoded by the sender and recipient using a public and private key.

Note: This is an important question with respect to Cissp interview questions.
 

25. What Are Some Methods Of Message Hiding In Cryptography?

Using a cipher, you can hide a plain-text communication inside of another message. Text is scrambled in cryptography so that only the sender and recipient can decipher the message and read its content.

Conclusion

In an interview, we discussed the qualities Cissp interview questions a CISSP-certified candidate should possess. Make sure you have all the requirements before choosing the CISSP; if you don't, you can still apply and receive an associate's degree in the certification. Self-training will take more time and might not always be enough. Training with an instructor is more organized and will concentrate on the essential topics you might otherwise overlook.

Recommended Readings:

You can also consider our Interview Preparation Course to give your career an edge over others.

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