Top 15 Security Testing Interview Questions and Answers for 2020

Introduction

Testing is not a new profession, instead today every software project needs to be tested. When it comes to making a career in testing, then you gather all the information that is required to become a professional tester. Here, in this blog, we will discuss the security testing interview questions answer rather than the software testing today.

Security testing is quite different from software testing, as in this phase the application or the software is tested for the security or vulnerabilities present in the application. The questions answers are discussed for both fresher and experienced and they are usually asked by the interviewers to test your knowledge.

A. Security Testing Questions & Answers for Fresher

1). Explain the Security Testing.

Security testing process is used to identify or detect the flaws in the security mechanism of the information system. An information system basically protects data and maintains the functionality as per user expectation and requirement.

For any application security testing is one of the most important types of testing for any application. In this type of testing tester himself plays the role of attacker and plays around the application to find the bugs of the system. Security testing is considered one of the most important types of testing among all types of testing that are available today.

2). What is the objective of Security Testing?

Security testing is one of the most important types of testing and its objective is to find bugs or vulnerabilities of the software or any desktop or web-based application. It is being done to protect the data from an unexpected attack or intruder.

Many applications contain confidential data that may require protection. It must be done periodically in order to identify the threats so that an immediate action can be taken if an attack is being done.

3). Define Vulnerability.

The weakness of any system due to which any bug or intruder can attack the system is known as its vulnerability. If testing is not performed rigorously of the system then chances of attack get increased. To avoid such attacks time to time patches and fixes are applied to prevent the system from any unpredicted vulnerability.

4). Explain intrusion detection?

Intrusion detection system basically detects the possibility of an attack and many times deals with it as well. Basically, it collects the information from a number of sources, analyzes the information and finds out all possible ways to attack the system. It checks for the following:

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• Attack possibility
• Abnormal activity detection
• System data auditing
• Data collection analysis

5). Explain SQL injection?

Commonly hackers attack the system with this technique that is known as SQL injection to hack all critical data. They check and try to find any system loophole, in which they find a query that bypasses the security check and returns back critical data. This process is known as SQL injection; it can not only hack the data but sometimes even crash the system.

The SQL injections are quite critical so must be avoided. They can be avoided by the periodic attack. SQL database security must be defined correctly in that input boxes and special characters must be handled properly.

6). What are the security testing attributes?

Following attributes are considered for security testing:

• Authentication
• Confidentiality
• Authorization
• Integrity
• Availability
• Resilience
• Non-repudiation               

7). What do you understand by Cross Site Scripting or XSS?

Cross-site scripting is the type of vulnerability that is used by hackers to attack web applications. Through this, the hackers inject HTML and JAVASCRIPT code into web pages through that hackers steal the confidential information from the web page cookies that is ultimately returned to the hackers. One must try to prevent this technique while designing the web application.

8). Differentiate SSL Connection and SSL Session?

SSL or secured socket layer connection is a transient connection that is established to set-up peer-to-peer communication. In these connections, each connection has one SSL Session.

SSL session is defined as an association between client and server. Usually, handshake networking protocol is used in these connections. The parameters that are defined in these connections must be shared by multiple SSL connections.

9). Explain “Penetration Testing”.

Penetration testing is done to identify and detect the system vulnerabilities. In this testing manual and automatic techniques are used to detect system vulnerabilities. After identification of the vulnerability, testers try to find more vulnerability associated with this one by accessing the system deeply.

This testing helps in preventing the system from any possible attack. Testers perform this testing in two ways either white box testing and black box testing.

In case of white box testing, all information is available with the testers, while in case of black box testing testers test the system in the real-world environment without any information and find out the vulnerabilities.

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10). Why should Penetration testing be used?

Due to following reasons Penetration testing must be used by the testers:

• As threats and attacks can be done at any time so loopholes and the security breaches can be much costly. Hackers cannot only steal the information but also crash the system.
• As hackers adopt new ways of hacking every day, so sometimes it may be difficult to protect the information all the time. So testers must perform the testing period to detect and prevent the attack.
• Penetration testing protects the system from the above-mentioned attacks and helps the organizations to keep data safe.

B. Security Testing Questions & Answers for Experienced

11). How can the password file be protected?

Following two techniques are used to protect the password file:

• Hashed Password
• Salt Value or Password File Access Control

12). What are the most used abbreviations and full forms that are used for Software security?

Below-listed abbreviations are used in software security and they are given with their full-forms:

• OSI- Open System Interconnection
• ISDN- Integrated Services Digital Network
• DDS-Digital Data System
• FTP-File Transfer Protocol
• GOSIP-Government Open System Interconnection Profile
• CHAP-Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol
• SSH-The Secure Shell
• DES-Data Encryption Standard
• DBA-Dynamic Bandwidth Allocation
• COPS-Common Open Policy Services
• BONDING- Bandwidth On Demand Interoperability Group
• ISAKMP-Internet Security Association and Key Management Protocol
• USM- User-based Security Model
• TLS-The Transport Layer Security
• IPSec-Internet Protocol Security is a protocol suite used for internet security.

13). What are the factors that can cause vulnerability?

Below listed factors can cause vulnerability:

• Passwords- If hackers know the password then they can steal the information easily. Password policy must be followed properly to avoid this risk.
• Design flaws- Due to design flaws the system loopholes can allow the hackers to attack system easily
• Human Error- Human errors must be identified as they are the biggest source of vulnerabilities
• Management – Poor data management can also lead to many vulnerabilities, so they must be also identified
• Complexity – If complex coding is being used for software then it may also result in a vulnerability.

14). Define ISO 17799.

This standard is published in the UK that defines the practices that must be followed for software security. This standard has guidelines for all size organizations including small, medium and large size organizations.

15). What are the types of testing?

Testing can be of following types:

• White Box: In this type of testing all information is provided to the testers
• Black Box Testing: In this type of testing no information is provided to the testers and they test the application in the real-world scenario
• Grey Box Testing: Partial information is provided to the testers rest they have their own information

16). As per OSS Testing methodology manual which of the seven security types exist?

As per Open Source Security Testing methodology manual following seven types of testing may exist:

• Security Scanning: It must be done to identify system or network weakness
• Vulnerability Scanning: As per this standard automated software must scan a system against any vulnerability.
• Risk Assessment: It involves possible risk analysis of the system that can be classified as low, medium and high
• Security Auditing: The complete system is scanned for any vulnerability
• Posture Assessment: It combines ethical hacking, security scanning, and risk assessment to show an overall security posture of any organization
• Penetration Testing: Penetration testing helps the testers in identifying system vulnerabilities.

17). Explain the WSDL and SOAP?

SOAP is Simple Object Access Protocol that is an XML based protocol that is used to exchange information over HTTP. Web services send XML requests in SOAP format and then SOAP client sends a message to the server. The server then responds back with a SOAP message.

WSDL or Web Services Description Language is an XML formatted language that is used by UDDI. It describes the web services and the way in which they can be used and accessed.

Final Words

The above-listed questions are not limited even though many questions can be added to this list. When you go for an interview, just check the latest updates and then plan for it.

All the best and Happy job hunting with JanBask Training!

Read: Software Testing Tutorial - Study Guide for Every Beginner in 2020