Ethical Hacking Interview Questions

1. What is meant by Ethical Hacking?

Ethical Hacking is when an individual is permitted to hack the system with the owner of the product's permission to find a weakness in a system and then fix it. It is carried out by ethical hackers to evaluate and deliver a report based on the knowledge acquired during the hack.

2. What is Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is about protecting computers and servers, electronic systems, mobile devices, networks, and data against malicious attacks. Cybersecurity is managed by cybersecurity experts who are responsible for protecting the system against malicious activity and attacks.

3. What are the various types of Hacking?

Hacking is divided into different types according to the category of being hacked:

• Website Hacking: This includes unauthorized access to a web server and related software, like changes to information and databases and interfaces.
• Network Hacking: This is the collection of data on a network using tools such as ping, Telnet, etc., intending to damage the network and impede its operations.
• Email hacking: This is unauthorized access to and use of the email account without permission from the owner.
• Password hacking: This is the process of retrieving secret passwords from information stored in the computer system.
• Computer hacking: It means unauthorized access to the computer and theft of data like the password and identification of the computer using hacking techniques.

Want to get certified in Ethical Hacking Certification Course, Learn from our experts at HKR Trainings!

4. Explain the types of Hackers?

• Black Hat Hackers: They hack the systems illegally to obtain unauthorized access to disrupt operations or steal sensitive information.
• White Hat Hackers: They hack systems and networks legally to assess vulnerabilities or threats with prior approval.
• Grey Box Hackers: They evaluate the security weakness of a network or computer system without the permission of the owner, but they report it later.

Apart from these, there are other different types of hackers as well. They are Hacktivist, Script Kiddie, Elite Hackers, Neophyte, Red hat, Blue hat.

5. How is the IP address different from the Mac address?

• IP Address: Each device is assigned an IP address so that the device can be located very quickly on the network with this number. That is, the IP address is similar to your mailing address, where anybody familiar with your mailing address may send you a letter.
• Mac Address: MAC refers to Machine Access Control. A MAC address is an individual serial number allocated to each network interface for each device. It is used to trace a device within a network. It is a means of finding a sender or receiver within the network and helps to prevent access to the undesirable network.

Lets's get started with Ethical Hacking Online Tutorial!

6. What are network protocols, and why do we need them?

A network protocol is defined as a set of rules for determining how data transmissions occur among the devices within the same network. It mainly enables communication among connected devices irrespective of any differences in their design, internal structure, or processes. Network protocols are an essential component of digital communications.

7. Explain Pharming and Defacement?

• Pharming: Pharming is a strategy in which the attacker will compromise the Domain Name System servers or the user PC for the traffic to be directed to a malicious website.
• Defacement: Defacement is a strategy in which the attacker substitutes the website of the company with an alternative page. It includes the name of the hacker, some images and can even integrate messages with background music.

8. What does a keylogger mean?

Keylogger is a monitoring technique that an attacker uses on a target computer for recording and monitoring Keystrokes struck by the users. It records the sensitive information that the target has entered.

9. What is network security, and what are the types of network security?

Network security is basically a set of rules and configurations designed to protect the confidentiality, accessibility, and integrity of computer networks and data using software or hardware technologies. Types of network security include:

• Network access control: In order to avoid attacks and infiltrations into the network, network access control policies are in place for the most granular level of users and devices. For example, authorization to access network and confidential files may be assigned and regulated when required.
• Anti-Virus & Anti-Malware Software: Antivirus and antimalware software are used to analyze continually and protect against viruses, malicious softwares, ransomware, worms, and Trojans.
• Virtual private networks(VPNs): VPN forms a network connection from other endpoints or sites. For example, a work-from-home employee uses a VPN to connect to the network of the organization. The user would require authentication to authorize this communication. It encrypts the data between the two points.
• FireWalls Protection: Firewall will act as a barrier between the internal network and an unreliable external network. Administrators may configure a set of rules for allowing traffic over the network.

Ethical Hacking Training

• Master Your Craft
• Lifetime LMS & Faculty Access
• 24/7 online expert support
• Real-world & Project Based Learning

Explore Curriculum

10. What is enumeration?

Enumeration is the main step in ethical Hacking, which is the collection of information. At this stage, the attacker establishes an active connection with the victim and attempts to get much information to identify vulnerabilities or weaknesses in the system and attempt to make further use of it. Enumeration captures information related to IP tables, Network shares, password policy lists, Usernames of various systems, and SNMP data if incorrectly secured.

Intermediate level Ethical Hacking Interview Questions

11. What is Cow Patty?

Cowpatty is a tool implemented on an offline dictionary-based attack over WPA/WPA2 networks that utilize PSK-based authentication. Cowpatty may perform an improved attack if a recalculated PMK document is available to the SSID being evaluated.

12. Explain Network Sniffing?

System sniffing involves the use of sniffing tools that enable real-time monitoring and analysis of data streams on PC systems. Sniffers can be used for a wide range of purposes, from data theft to systems management. Network sniffing is used for ethical as well as unethical purposes. System administrators use them as a tool to monitor and analyze the system in order to analyze and avoid network problems, such as traffic bottlenecks. Cyber Criminals use these devices for unreliable purposes, such as character usurpation, email, hacking sensitive information, and so on.

13. What is foot printing, and what are the techniques used in it?

Footprinting is the accumulation and discovery of so much information on the target network prior to accessing a network. It is the approach of hackers before hacking the target network. 

• Open Source Footprinting: It will search for the contact details of the admin, which can help the hackers to guess the password in Social Engineering. 
• Scanning: When the network is known, the next step consists of spying on the active IP addresses on the network. To identify active IP addresses, the Internet Control Message Protocol is an active IP address.
• Network Enumeration: Here, the hacker attempts to identify the target network's domain names and network blocks.
• Stack Fingerprinting: After the port and the hosts are mapped by scanning the network, then the final footprinting step can be carried out.

14. Explain the Phishing attack?

Phishing is a type of attack where attackers create an emergency through the use of threats, financial incentives, and impersonating an authoritative organization to ask a user to submit sensitive information, like usernames and passwords, credit card details, etc.

In other words, Phishing is the effort to steal sensitive information like user data, credit card numbers, etc. Such attacks mainly occur through the use of personal social networking sites, email accounts, online transactions, etc.

15. What is Spoofing?

Spoofing is a fraud that involves impersonating a legitimate source or someone known to the target to obtain sensitive information. Hackers may use that information to carry out illegal activities like identity theft. Some of the more popular spoofing attacks include:

• Website spoofing
• Email spoofing
• ARP spoofing
• DNS server spoofing
• Caller ID spoofing

16. What is ARP Spoofing?

ARP refers to the Address Resolution Protocol. It is a type of attack where an attacker changes the Media Access Control (MAC) address and attacks an Internet LAN by modifying the ARP cache of the target computer with a fake ARP query and reply packets. ARP spoofing is also called ARP poisoning. ARP poisoning can be avoided using the following methods.

• Prevent trust relationship: The organization should develop protocols that are minimally supported by the relationship of trust.
• Packet filtering: Packet filters can filter and block packets that have conflicting source address details. 
• Use of Cryptographic network protocols: By using secure communication protocols such as SSH, TLS, HTTP securely avoids ARP spoofing attacks by encrypting the data before it is transmitted and authenticating the data when it is received.
• Use the ARP spoofing software: There are programs that inspect and certify data prior to transmission and block spoofed data.

Subscribe to our youtube channel to get new updates..!

Subscribe

17. What is CSRF? How can you avoid that?

CSRF refers to Cross-site request forgery. This is an attack from a malicious website which sends a request to a Web application against which a user is already authenticated from another Web site. To avoid CSRF, you can add an unpredictable challenge token to every request and link them to the user's session. They ensure the developer that the requests they received are from a valid source.

18. What is MIB?

MIB refers to Management Information Base. It is a virtual database. It includes all formal network object descriptions that are controlled by a network management system. It is used to refer to a full collection of management information about an entity such as a computer network.

19. What is Mac Flooding?

Mac Flooding is one technique in which the security of a particular network switch is compromised. In this technique, the hacker floods the switch with a lot of frames, then what it can manage. It makes the switch behave like a hub and sends all packets to all ports. Using this, the attacker will attempt to send their package within the network for stealing sensitive data.

20. What are the password cracking techniques available?

Some of the password cracking techniques include:

• AttackRule
• AttackSyllable
• AttacksHybrid
• AttackBrute Forcing

Ethical Hacking Interview Questions for Experienced

21. What are active and passive reconnaissance?

• Active reconnaissance: Here, the attacker commits to the target system, normally by scanning the ports to find the open ports.
• Passive reconnaissance: It is nothing more than finding out which computers and networks are being targeted without active participation in the systems.

22. What does an SQL injection attack mean?

SQL injection is a way to hack a Web application. In this method, the attacker runs malicious SQL commands to gain control over the database server. Attackers are using SQL vulnerabilities to recover or change SQL data.

Types of SQL injections are as follows:

• Blind SQL injection
• Error-based SQL injection
• Time-based SQL injection

23. What is a Denial of Service attack? What are the common DOS attacks?

DOS attacks involve the flooding of servers, networks, or systems with traffic to cause overconsumption of resources of victims. As a result, legitimate users have difficulty accessing or using targeted sites.

DOS attacks include the following:

• SYN flood
• ICMP flood
• Smurf attack
• Teardrop attack
• Buffer overflow attacks

24. What do you know about the DDoS attack? What are its types?

DDOS refers to Distributed Denial of Services. It is an attack that involves an attacker flooding a network, website, or server with unnecessary traffic for it to become unserviceable to the intended user. Traffic may include incoming connection requests or false data packets. There are three kinds of DDOS attacks.

• Application DDoS attack
• Protocol DDoS attack
• Volume-based DDoS attack

25. Describe how you can prevent Hacking of your Website?

26. What is fingerprinting?

Fingerprinting is a technique used to determine an operating system that operates on a remote computer. There are two types of fingerprinting techniques.

• Active fingerprinting: Here, specially designed packets are sent to the target machine, and according to its response and the collected data, we identify the target operating system. 
• Passive fingerprinting: Here, according to the packet sniffer traces, we may find the operating system of the remote host.

27. What does DNS Cache Poisoning mean?

It is a technique which uses vulnerabilities in the domain name system to redirect Internet traffic from legitimate and fake servers. It is also referred to as DNS spoofing.

28. What does a rogue DHCP server mean?

It is a DHCP server that is configured on a network by an attacker who is not controlled by the network admins. Maybe it's a modem or a router. Rogue DHCP servers are mainly used by hackers for network attacks like Reconnaissance, Sniffing, and Man in the Middle.

29. What is Burp Suite? Which tools are included in it?

Burp Suite is a built-in platform used to perform a web application security test. It comprises a variety of tools that work perfectly together to handle the complete testing process, from initial mapping to security vulnerabilities. It includes all the tools that hackers would need to attack any application like spider, proxy, scanner, intruder, decoder, repeater, comparer, sequencer.

30. What do you mean by penetration testing?

A penetration test is also called a pen test. It simulates a cyberattack on a computer to verify possible vulnerabilities within the system. It is usually implemented to enhance a Web Application Firewall. It may involve a simulated attack on a number of application systems like front-end servers, back-end servers, and APIs to find out all the vulnerabilities present. The information acquired through this test is used to tighten WAF security policies and solve detected problems. Some of the most commonly used tools in penetration testing include: 

• BeEF
• Aircrack
• Wireshark
• Netsparker
• Metasploit

Conclusion:

All the above are the frequently asked Ethical Hacking Interview Questions. I hope these questions and answers will help you to clear your interview related to Ethical Hacking. If you could not find the answer to any question related to Ethical Hacking, feel free to comment it in the comment section.