Interviewing Penetration Tester

Penetration testing is a method of assessing the level of protection of an information system against illegal intrusions from public networks. A Penetration Tester is a cybersecurity professional responsible for simulating cyberattacks on an organization’s computer systems, networks, and applications to identify vulnerabilities and evaluate security measures. The essence of the test is to identify shortcomings in the security system and consider it from the point of view of cybercriminals who aim to gain unauthorized access to the information system.

Interviewing E-Commerce Operations Manager

Why is penetration testing necessary?

Conducting a penetration test allows you to obtain an up-to-date independent assessment of the security of your information system from external attacks, as well as to identify potential weaknesses and vulnerabilities in your information security system. With the help of the information received, you can make a list of the tasks required to strengthen the protection and estimate the budget required for its implementation.

What does a penetration tester do?

A penetration tester is a professional responsible for simulating and executing attacks on information systems. Essentially, a penetration tester must be able to think and act like a hacker. These roles overlap and fall under the broader field of information security. Penetration testers identify weaknesses and vulnerabilities in systems and networks. They also assess where and how attacks could originate, determining if an attacker could compromise a system, and if so, how exactly that could be done.

Moreover, they evaluate how effective your security is against various hacker attacks and provide recommendations for improving your defenses. Their work helps to prevent actual hacker attacks, ensuring the security and privacy of your data and network performance. To hire the best penetration tester, it’s crucial to follow a structured interview process. Below, I will outline suggestions for an interview structure and provide some questions you can ask to identify the best candidate.

Interview structure for penetration tester job

It’s beneficial to divide the interview into three rounds, as this allows you to cover all essential topics effectively. A structured interview helps organize the questions in a logical order, making it easier for candidates to respond appropriately.

Round 1: General and Technical Screening (30 minutes) – This round assesses the candidate’s overall fit for the role and their basic technical knowledge.

Round 2: Technical Deep Dive (1 hour) – In this round, you evaluate the candidate’s in-depth technical knowledge and their problem-solving abilities.

Round 3: Practical Assessment (2 hours) – This round tests the candidate’s hands-on skills in conducting penetration tests.

Interview question of a penetration tester

What is the difference between a vulnerability and an exploit?
What are the steps involved in penetration testing?
What are the common tools and techniques employed in ethical hacking?
How do you stay vigilant against the potential impacts of new technologies, security devices, and even some of the newer viruses?
What is your experience in scanning and enumeration of networks?
What social engineering techniques can be adopted in organizations?
What is passive reconnaissance, and what is active reconnaissance?
How do you deal with clients who question your findings?
Have you worked with any penetration testing tools like OWASP ZAP, Metasploit, and other methodologies?
To the best of your abilities, describe a situation where you faced a particularly difficult penetration testing scenario and how you approached it.
Describe several types of web application vulnerabilities.
What is meant by the term SQL injection?
How do you conduct a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack?
What is the difference between a buffer overflow attack and a stack overflow attack?
How do you find and take advantage of network weaknesses?
What is the purpose of a firewall in terms of network security?
What do you mean by encoding and decoding?
What is the key difference between a vulnerability scan and a penetration test?
How do you rate the degree of potential danger resulting from a particular vulnerability?
What role does ethical hacking play in the protection of cyberspace?