Asking AI - What Are the Top 3 Technical Questions in Cybersecurity SOC Role Interviews
Side Note: I cannot find the right words to persuade ChatGPT to render “business casual” dress as anything other than suits and ties and very formal wear. Either that or my words are perfect and ChatGPT is deeply biased against business casual attire :)
Security Operations Center (SOC) roles seem to be among the most sought after entry level roles in cybersecurity. So this morning I asked several AI apps to list the three most likely technical questions that entry level candidates would be asked in an interview for one of these roles. The AI apps I asked for input today are:
Pi
Copilot
Perplexity - using the Gemini Pro model
Poe - using the Claude-2-100K model
Poe - using the Mistral Medium model
ChatGPT (with its latest GPT-4 model)
The prompt I gave them is:
What are the top three most likely technical questions that a candidate would be asked when applying for an entry level role in a cybersecurity SOC team?
All the responses were solid and some were a little better than others. Copilot and Claude offered the best and the most strictly relevant (technical questions) responses. I was not overly impressed with Gemini Pro’s answer - I’ll explain why below. The most commonly asked questions among the six apps were about SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) tools and how they are used in monitoring and analyzing security incidents, and about incident response activities.
Just like last week, the four tools provided solid to very good responses. I was impressed to see that a common theme in the responses was not just listing the Top 5 interview questions, but also how they offer insight about the candidate to the interviewer.
Here are some excerpts from the responses (or in some cases the whole reply if it is concise enough), along with my thoughts on a few of the best and most interesting ones and my nominee for the single best question, starting with my selection for the best two responses:
Claude
Claude nailed it for a quick, concise, and relevant answer. Question 2 on how to respond to a brute force attack is one of the best amongst all the responses.
1. What steps would you take to troubleshoot why a user cannot access a particular website or application? This tests the candidate's understanding of basic network troubleshooting like checking connectivity, DNS resolution, firewall rules, etc.
2. You see an alert for a brute force SSH attack against one of your servers. What would you do to respond to and investigate this alert? This assesses the candidate's process for triaging alerts and their ability to collect evidence and escalate if needed.
3. Describe the components of a SIEM (security information and event management) system. This tests the candidate's knowledge of core SOC technologies. The answer should cover things like data collection from various sources, correlation rules, alerting, reporting dashboards, etc.
Copilot
Copilot’s questions are very good ones, and I appreciate that it replies as if it is talking to the candidate while they’re prepping for the interview, explaining what each question is looking at and testing.
**What are the common types of cyberattacks and how would you prevent or detect them?** This question tests your knowledge of the various threats and vulnerabilities that a cybersecurity team needs to protect against, such as phishing, malware, denial-of-service, ransomware, SQL injection, etc. You should be able to explain the characteristics, indicators, and impacts of each type of attack, as well as the best practices or tools to prevent or detect them. For example, you could mention using antivirus software, firewalls, encryption, authentication, backup, etc.
- **How do you use SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) tools to monitor and analyze security incidents?** This question assesses your familiarity and proficiency with one of the most essential tools for a cybersecurity SOC team. SIEM tools collect and correlate data from various sources, such as logs, network devices, security appliances, etc., and provide a centralized view of the security posture and activity of the organization. You should be able to demonstrate how you use SIEM tools to perform tasks such as creating dashboards, generating reports, setting up alerts, conducting searches, and investigating incidents.
- **How do you handle a security incident from identification to resolution?** This question evaluates your understanding of the incident response process and your ability to follow the standard procedures and best practices for handling security incidents. You should be able to describe the steps involved in the incident response process, such as identification, containment, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned. You should also be able to explain the roles and responsibilities of the SOC team and other stakeholders, the tools and techniques used for incident response, and the documentation and reporting requirements for each stage of the process.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT had a good response. I like this question it had on phishing, as this is one of the most common attack vectors and has been for some time, and the guidance it offers on what a good answer is solid too.
**How would you respond to a suspected phishing attack reported by an end-user?**
- This scenario-based question tests the candidate's practical skills in responding to common cybersecurity incidents. A strong answer would outline steps such as verifying the report, isolating the affected system(s), analyzing the phishing email (header analysis, link destinations, etc.), removing the phishing emails from other inboxes if found, and educating the end-user on how to recognize phishing attempts. Additionally, mentioning the importance of updating security awareness training and incident response plans based on lessons learned from the incident would show a comprehensive understanding.
Pi
Pi has a great question on working with a SIEM to analyze a specific type of interesting user event which may become a security event or incident - login failures.
"How would you use a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system to investigate a potential security incident, such as a large number of failed login attempts? What specific features and capabilities of the SIEM would you utilize, and how would you analyze and interpret the data to determine the nature and severity of the incident?"
Mistral Medium
Mistral was another app with a short, effective answer, and another that offers good insight on what the interviewer/s are trying to gauge about a candidate with each of the questions.
1. What are some common types of cyber threats and how do they work?
This question is meant to assess the candidate's understanding of the most common types of cyber threats, such as malware, phishing, ransomware, and DDoS attacks, and how they operate.
2. How do you analyze network traffic to detect potential security incidents?
This question is designed to gauge the candidate's ability to analyze network traffic logs and detect any unusual or suspicious activity that may indicate a security breach. The interviewer may also ask about the candidate's experience with specific tools or techniques used for network traffic analysis, such as Wireshark or netflow analysis.
3. How do you respond to a security incident, and what steps would you take to contain and mitigate the damage?
This question is intended to evaluate the candidate's incident response skills and their ability to think critically and strategically during a security incident. The interviewer may ask about the candidate's experience with incident response procedures, such as containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident analysis. The candidate should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the importance of communication, documentation, and collaboration during incident response.
Gemini Pro
As mentioned above, Gemini Pro was not the strongest response on this prompt. Its questions 1 and 3 are a little less technical and SOC role specific. Please note that square bracketed numbers within its response are to its source links, which are not active here.
1. **Fundamentals of Cybersecurity Concepts**:
- What is the difference between encryption and hashing?
- Explain the CIA triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability) [2].
- What is the AAA model (Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting) [2].
2. **Network Security and Event Log Analysis**:
- What is port scanning and how is it used to identify vulnerabilities? [5]
- How can you detect failed logons and RDP logons using Windows event logs (Event ID 4625 and 4624)? [5]
3. **Threat Intelligence and Incident Response**:
- How do you stay updated with cybersecurity news and developments? [2]
- What is the difference between Blue Team and Red Team? [5]
- What is Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) and its importance in incident response? [5]
If you enjoyed this post, you may be interested in two other recent posts where I have asked AI apps to weight on similar topics for anyone in early or mid career level in cybersecurity: