Hack the Cybersecurity Interview E-Book

Christophe Foulon

• Herausgeber: Packt Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 507

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

The cybersecurity field is evolving rapidly, and so are the interviews for cybersecurity roles. Hack the Cybersecurity Interview, Second Edition, is the essential guide for anyone aiming to navigate this changing landscape.

This edition, updated and expanded, addresses how to fi nd cybersecurity jobs in tough job markets and expands upon the original cybersecurity career paths. It offers invaluable
insights into various cybersecurity roles, such as cybersecurity engineer, penetration tester, cybersecurity product manager, and cybersecurity project manager, focusing on succeeding in interviews. This book stands out
with its real-world approach, expert insights, and practical tips. It's not just a preparation guide; it's your key to unlocking success in the highly competitive field of cybersecurity.

By the end of this book, you will be able to answer behavioural and technical questions and effectively demonstrate your cybersecurity knowledge.

Leseprobe

Hack the Cybersecurity Interview

Second Edition

Navigate Cybersecurity Interviews with Confidence, from Entry-level to Expert roles

Christophe Foulon

Ken Underhill

Tia Hopkins

Hack the Cybersecurity Interview

Second Edition

Copyright © 2024 Packt Publishing

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First published: July 2022

Second edition: August 2024

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ISBN 978-1-83546-129-7

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Contributors

About the authors

Christophe Foulon, founder and cybersecurity executive advisor at CPF Coaching LLC focuses on helping small to mid-sized businesses improve their security maturity, and grow their business in the process. He brings over 17 years of experience as a vCISO, information security manager, adjunct professor, author, and cybersecurity strategist, and a passion for customer service, process improvement, and information security. He has also spent over 10 years leading, coaching, and mentoring people. He gives back by writing books like this and Develop Your Cybersecurity Career Path and supporting non-profits like Whole Cyber Human Initiative and his local Rotary Club.

I would like to thank my wife and son, who patiently and lovingly support me as I find time to continue to write among all the other things we need to do. Without a support system like that, I would not have the bandwidth to help others like I do.

I would also like to thank Ken and Tia, as they have been such amazing co-authors and helped to pull together all this knowledge for our readers. It’s an amazing feeling once it’s completed.

Ken Underhill is an experienced cybersecurity executive and has helped over 2 million people build their cybersecurity skills. He has won multiple awards, including the Cyber Champion award, Best Cybersecurity Marketer, SC Media Outstanding Educator, and a 40 under 40 award. Ken volunteers with organizations like Minorities in Cybersecurity, Black Girls Hack, BBWIC, EKC, and sits on the global ethical hacking advisory board for EC-Council.

I would like to thank my spouse for her support as I make the world a better place. To all our readers, you already have everything you need within you to live the life of your dreams. Thank you to my co-authors and of course thank you to the amazing Mari Galloway for her contributions to both this book and my life.

Tia Hopkins is a global award-winning cybersecurity executive with over two decades of experience in IT and IT security. In addition to her primary role, she is an adjunct professor of cybersecurity, a women’s tackle football coach, a keynote speaker, and a LinkedIn learning instructor.

Tia’s extensive educational background includes a BS in information technology, an ms in information security and assurance, an ms in cybersecurity and information assurance, and an Executive Master of Business Administration. She holds industry certifications such as CISSP, CISM, and GSLC and is pursuing a PhD in cybersecurity leadership. Her research focuses on leveraging cyber resilience to bridge communication gaps between digital leaders, non-technical business leaders, and board directors.

Throughout her career, Tia has received numerous accolades, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from AmeriCorps and the Office of the President of the United States for her volunteer work focused on diversifying the cybersecurity talent pool. She also earned the SANS Difference Makers People’s Choice Award for Team Leader of the Year.

Tia is a member of the Forbes Technology Council and has been featured in prominent publications like the Wall Street Journal, Dark Reading, and InformationWeek. She contributed a chapter to the book The Rise of Cyber Women: Volume 2 and co-authored two best-selling books: Hack the Cybersecurity Interview and Securing Our Future: Embracing the Resilience and Brilliance of Black Women in Cyber.

Committed to diversity and inclusion, Tia founded Empow(H)er Cybersecurity, a non-profit organization that inspires and empowers women of color to pursue cybersecurity careers. She also serves on the board of Cyversity, a non-profit association dedicated to diversifying, educating, and empowering women, traditionally underrepresented minorities, and veterans in their cybersecurity careers.

I would like to thank all the amazing people who have supported me along the way. First off, to my fiancé - thank you for your endless love, patience, support, and encouragement. I couldn’t have done this without you.

A huge shoutout to my co-authors, Ken and Chris, whose collaboration has been incredible. Your dedication and passion for cybersecurity have made this journey a great one, and I’m grateful for your partnership.

To everyone who read the first edition, your feedback and success stories have been incredibly inspiring. Knowing that this book has helped you on your career journey fuels my passion for writing and teaching. I hope this new edition continues to be a valuable resource for you.

About the reviewer

Derek Fisher offers over 25 years of experience in hardware, software, and cybersecurity, spanning industries like healthcare and finance. An accomplished leader and educator, he excels in cybersecurity strategy, risk management, and compliance, leading incident response efforts and directing high-performing teams. Derek effectively communicates complex technical concepts to a range of audiences, including executives and board members. In academia, he translates his professional knowledge into courses for both graduate and undergraduate students, and has developed self-paced online training programs on topics such as threat modeling and application security. Additionally, Derek is an award-winning author of a children’s book series on online safety, recognized by the Mom’s Choice Award, and has published a well-received guide on building application security programs.

Derek is the founder of Securely Built, which is dedicated to providing security services and education to individuals and businesses. You can find more here: https://securelybuilt.com/. He has also written the Application Security Program Handbook as well as a children’s book series on cybersecurity called Alicia Connected.

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Preface

This book covers best practices for preparing yourself for cybersecurity job interviews. Most of the chapters cover a specific cybersecurity job and interview questions that you might be asked in the interview. The behavioral interview questions chapter covers questions the authors have been asked during interviews, regardless of job role. The final chapter of the book covers additional information from the authors on how to best prepare yourself for job interviews. Remember, your resume and networking with people can get you the interview, but preparation for the interview is what helps you get the job.

Who this book is for

This book is valuable to aspiring cybersecurity professionals looking to gain insight into the types of questions they might face during an interview. It’s also for experienced cybersecurity professionals looking to level up their interview game.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Hacking Yourself, is where you are going to learn about tips for preparing for your job interview, some general interview questions you might be asked, and how you should respond to them, and ways to handle stress.

Chapter 2, Cybersecurity Engineer, is where you will learn about the Cybersecurity Engineer career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 3, SOC Analyst, is where you will learn about the SOC Analyst career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 4, Penetration Tester, is where you will learn about the Penetration Tester career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 5, Digital Forensics Analyst, is where you will learn about the digital forensics analyst career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 6, Cryptographer/Cryptanalyst, is where you will learn about the cryptographer career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 7, GRC/Privacy Analyst, is where you will learn about the GRC analyst career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 8, Security Auditor, is where you will learn about the security auditor career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 9, Malware Analyst, is where you will learn about the malware analyst career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 10, Cybersecurity Manager, is where you will learn about the cybersecurity manager career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 11, Cybersecurity Sales Engineer, is where you will learn about the cybersecurity sales engineer career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 12, Cybersecurity Product Manager, is where you will learn about the cybersecurity product manager career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 13, Cybersecurity Project Manager, is where you will learn about the Cybersecurity Project Manager career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 14, CISO, is where you will learn about the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) career path and some of the common interview questions that are asked.

Chapter 15, Behavioral Interview Questions, is where you will learn about some of the most common behavioral interview questions that are asked across cybersecurity career paths. This chapter is a must-read for anyone looking to be successful in their interview.

Chapter 16, Final Thoughts, is where we, the authors, share our final advice to help you succeed in both your job interview and in your cybersecurity career.

To get the most out of this book

To get the most out of this book, it’s important to understand why you want to work in cybersecurity and to practice for your job interview. We suggest writing out the questions that you think the interviewer will ask you based on the job you are applying for, then do your best to answer those questions.

Doing this will help you during the job interview, ensuring that you are not stumbling around for answers to the interviewers’ questions. This book is not intended to be read cover to cover, although you can do that. Instead, we suggest that you read Chapter 1, Hacking Yourself, Chapter 15, Behavioral Interview Questions, and Chapter 16, Final Thoughts, and then read only the chapters for the job roles that you are applying to. The information in all chapters will be beneficial to you, but by focusing on the job interview that is in front of you, you will be in a much better position to succeed. For example, if you are interviewing for a SOC Analyst job, the chapter on CISO interview questions will still be informative, but your main focus should be on the SOC Analyst interview questions, since that is the job interview you have next week.

After reading this book, it’s critical that you actually apply the knowledge. People often say knowledge is power, but in reality, applied knowledge is the real superpower. The more you practice for your job interview in advance, the easier the job interview usually is.

Also, after you apply the information in this book and do well in your job interview, please share a post on social media and tag the authors because we care about your success and want to see your wins.

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://packt.link/gbp/9781835461297.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. For example: “You can use the sleep command, and if the web app sleeps for a period of time, it could indicate that it is vulnerable.”

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see on the screen. For instance, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. For example: “I worked on a project integrating CrowdStrike with our SIEM system, using RESTful APIs.”

Warnings or important notes appear like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.

Get in touch

Feedback from our readers is always welcome.

General feedback: Email [email protected] and mention the book’s title in the subject of your message. If you have questions about any aspect of this book, please email us at [email protected].

Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you reported this to us. Please visit http://www.packtpub.com/submit-errata, click Submit Errata, and fill in the form.

Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at [email protected] with a link to the material.

If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit http://authors.packtpub.com.

Addendum – Salary Information Websites

The following websites for searching for cybersecurity jobs are provided for reference only. The authors have no affiliation with these websites, so we encourage you to use multiple sources of information and to run every website you find through a tool like Virus Total to quickly scan for potential threats. Some of the websites (e.g., LinkedIn Salary) can be used across multiple countries, so we have only listed these a single time. Again, this list does not contain every possible website out there for salary data, so please just use this information as a guide to help you get started.

Please also note that some of the links below may only work if you are located in that country.

United States

Glassdoor: https://www.glassdoor.comSalary.com: https://www.salary.comPayScale: https://www.payscale.comBureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): https://www.bls.govIndeed Salary Search: https://www.indeed.com/salaries

India

PayScale India: https://www.payscale.com/research/INNaukri.com: https://www.naukri.comGlassdoor India: https://www.glassdoor.co.inMonster India: https://www.monsterindia.com

Vietnam

Vietnam Works: https://www.vietnamworks.comGlassdoor Vietnam: https://www.glassdoor.com.vnCareerBuilder Vietnam: https://www.careerbuilder.vnJobStreet Vietnam: https://www.jobstreet.vn

United Kingdom (UK)

PayScale UK: https://www.payscale.com/research/UKGlassdoor UK: https://www.glassdoor.co.ukTotaljobs: https://www.totaljobs.comIndeed UK Salary Search: https://www.indeed.co.uk/salariesAdzuna: https://www.adzuna.co.uk

France

Glassdoor France: https://www.glassdoor.frAPEC: https://www.apec.frIndeed France Salary Search: https://www.indeed.fr/salariesPayScale France: https://www.payscale.com/research/FR

South Africa

PayScale South Africa: https://www.payscale.com/research/ZAGlassdoor South Africa: https://www.glassdoor.co.zaCareerJunction: https://www.careerjunction.co.zaIndeed South Africa Salary Search: https://www.indeed.co.za/salaries

Nigeria

MySalaryScale Nigeria: https://www.mysalaryscale.com/ngGlassdoor Nigeria: https://www.glassdoor.com.ngIndeed Nigeria Salary Search: https://www.indeed.com.ng/salaries

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1

Hacking Yourself

In this chapter, you will learn how to use this book, especially if you only have a short period of time before your job interview. You will also learn about some of the most common job interview questions asked and recommendations on how to answer them. This chapter also covers a brief introduction to personal branding and a simple method to reduce stress before a job interview.

The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

How to get the most out of this bookGeneral interview adviceCommon interview questionsA definition of cybersecurityThe How, Analyze, Collect, and Know (HACK) methodPersonal branding and soft skillsNegotiation 101Managing stress

How to get the most out of this book

If you’re reading this book and only have a short time before your job interview, let me share some wisdom on how to get the most out of it.

This book is not intended to be read from cover to cover, although it can be.

I would suggest reading through at least Part 1 (Hacking Yourself) and Part 4 (Common Behavioral Interview Questions), plus the chapter on the specific job role that you’re interviewing for (assuming it’s one listed in this book).

Many of the behavioral interview questions near the back of this book have been asked in interviews I’ve done, and some of the questions may be asked verbatim in your interview. This is why it’s important to prepare for your interview, using both behavioral and technical interview questions, for the job that you want.

I want to stress that the technology mentioned in this book will likely change over the years, so the technical interview questions should not be taken as a holy grail guide but, rather, as a more general guide to the types of questions an employer may ask you during an interview. Also, as you read along with the topics in this book, based on your preferred job roles, you will come across some questions on various tools that are used in specific job roles. The questions you get about tools in an actual job interview may vary, based on the company and the specific role.

Being able to use a specific type of tool to solve a scenario is more important than trying to get experience in every possible tool on the market. For example, if the job description asks for Splunk experience and your experience is QRadar, you may not have time to become an expert in Splunk before the job interview. In this example, your skill in solving problems with a Security Information and Event Nanagement (SIEM) is what you should focus on, and then, in the job interview, speak about how you can learn new technology very quickly. This helps the interviewer see your skills and know that they can just send you through vendor training (in this example, Splunk) to build your skills for the specific tool they use.

We want to mention that this book could not possibly cover every possible interview question you might get, but we’ve made every effort to include some of the most common interview questions, after interviewing hundreds of cybersecurity professionals in these roles and going through hundreds of interviews ourselves over the years.

General interview advice

Your thoughts and words have power.

As strange as that statement might sound to you, I’ve found in life that statement is true.

I remember a few years ago, I needed to get my driver’s license renewed and saw over 100 people waiting in front of me in the ticketing system line.

The first thought in my head was, This is going to take all day.

But what I said out loud to myself was, This line is going to move quickly, and they will call my ticket number in less than 20 minutes. In fact, people ahead of me in the line are going to comment that this is the fastest they’ve ever seen the line move.

Guess what happened.

Yes—you are correct.

The line moved quickly, and my ticket number was called in about 15 minutes. A few people ahead of me in the line also commented how they had never seen the line move that quickly.

Am I claiming some superhero power, or am I planning to dive into a deep metaphysical discussion here?

Not at all—and I would much rather have the ability to freeze someone with ice as a superpower, anyway.

However, this is an example of the power of your words. You can search online and across social media platforms to see thousands of other examples of this.

There are also numerous books on the subject. Some good ones that I’ve read are What to Say When You Talk to Yourself by Shad Helmstetter, The Power of Awareness by Neville Goddard, and You Are the Way by Fabio Mantegna and Elmer O. Locker Jr.

It’s important to speak the right way before any job interview. Instead of saying things such as I’m dumb or They will hate me, say things such as This is going to be a great interview. Everyone is going to be friendly to me. In fact, it will feel more like a conversation with old friends than a job interview. It also helps if you write out exactly how the interview is going to go as if you had already experienced your perfect job interview. This is the power of visualization.

Now, does this guarantee you will ace the interview and get the job offer? No, of course not. And sometimes, you don’t get certain jobs because something much better for you is right around the corner. I have even experienced this in the past.

Common interview questions

Now, let’s look at some common interview questions you may be asked during the initial phone screen interview, the hiring manager interview, and/or any team interview:

Tell me about yourself

This question is not a place for you to share your childhood memories. It’s also not a place for you to mention generic stuff like I’m a lifelong learner because everyone in a cybersecurity career is a lifelong learner, due to technology and threats constantly evolving.

Instead, what the interviewer wants to hear is a brief summary of your career with a focus on your impact on past employers. Think of this as your 30-second elevator pitch. Be as specific as possible in your answer.

Here’s a formula to help you craft a good answer to this question:

A one-sentence introduction to who you are professionallyTwo to four metrics that make you stand out based on the job roleOne or two sentences about why you want this job

Here’s an example of the formula being used:

I have been in healthcare cybersecurity for 3 years and currently work as a Cybersecurity Analyst for ABC Hospital, where I built automation that reduced our support tickets by 11.2%. This opportunity caught my eye because the company’s mission to bring better healthcare to rural communities is a passion of mine, and I can make an immediate impact on the cybersecurity team. Would you like to hear more about anything I’ve mentioned so far?

The reason I suggest answering using this formula is because it keeps your answer concise. Asking the interviewer if they want to learn more about what you’ve mentioned both respects their time and allows them to dig deeper into areas of your response that are the most important to them. The problem that many job candidates have if they don’t use a formula like this is that they ramble on for 5 to 10 minutes. This means the interviewer is now in a rush to finish their list of questions, which leaves little time for you as the job candidate to get your questions answered at the end of the interview.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

With this question, the interviewer is trying to determine if you have a plan for your future with the organization and in your career.

Most people will answer this question with something about taking the interviewer’s job or becoming a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) in 5 years even if they have no cybersecurity experience, but the best way to answer is to mention that you want to master the current job and become the go-to person in your domain, and then speak about how the job aligns with your long-term goals.

Here’s an example:

I want to take the next year to fully learn my role and the company’s needs, and then, in the following years, establish myself as a thought leader in incident response. This job as a SOC Analyst would help me build the foundational skills for incident response.

What is your greatest strength?

Under the section titled The HACK method later in this chapter, we’ll talk about analyzing yourself, which is what you need to do to answer this question. In the meantime, for this question, talk about a specific strength and a specific example of when you used your strength.

Here’s an example:

I would say my greatest strength is the ability to communicate effectively with different stakeholders. An example of this is when I reported on an incident to senior leadership and communicated the effectiveness of our existing security controls, while recommending areas we could improve. This helped my team get additional funding to implement some of the suggested security controls.

What is your greatest weakness?

With this question, you want to mention your greatness weakness, what you are doing to resolve it, and the status of your resolution.

Here’s an example:

I would say my greatest weakness is being nervous with public speaking, so I started speaking at a Toastmasters group, and I am also taking an online course on public speaking best practices. So far, I have given three talks at my Toastmasters group, and I’m about halfway through the public speaking course. I feel much more comfortable now in front of large crowds.

Why are you leaving your current job?

I usually would answer this one with something about growing your career into the new role.

Here’s an example:

While I’ve enjoyed my time at Acme Inc. I realized it was time to move to the next level in my career as a pentester. (Depending on the role, you can adjust your response. For example, if you are moving from an individual contributor role into a manager job, mention that you are looking for more responsibility in a leadership role.)

What are your salary expectations?

These days, many job postings will list the base salary range. If the range is not listed in the job description, you might be asked on the job application or during the job interview what your salary expectations are. This question trips a lot of people up. Instead of giving them a salary range, which puts you at a disadvantage in the negotiation stage, I suggest using the following example:

I’m open to discussing compensation at the right time. I’m looking for the best overall fit and package. Are you opposed to sharing your budgeted range for this role with me?

If they refuse to share their budgeted range with you, which is rare, then it might be time for you to explore working for another company.

At some point in the interview process, typically near the end of the interview, you will be asked if you have any additional questions. During this time, some job candidates say they don’t have any questions because they think that will help them look smarter to the interviewer. The reality is that the interviewer expects you to ask questions to ensure the company is a good fit for you.

Job candidates will also ask about the company culture at this stage of the interview as well, but I suggest you ask the more specific questions below first because it will help you identify exactly what the interviewer is looking for in the candidate they ultimately hire for the job.

Here are some interview questions I think you should ask them:

What seems to be missing from the other candidates you’ve interviewed so far?

This question helps you identify exactly what the interviewer is looking for and the gaps other candidates have. Knowing this information helps you speak about how your experience fills those gaps and why you are the best candidate for the job. This question should be the first one you ask when they give you time to ask them questions, and it can be asked during every stage of the interview because you want to know what each person is looking for in the perfect candidate. Just asking this question will often help you move to the next round of interviews because most people do not ask intelligent questions like this one. They typically ask about company culture, but you should do your research and know about the culture before the job interview.

Which key performance indicators (KPIs) would you have for me in this position over the first 30, 60, and 90 days?

This question does a few things that benefit you. First, it gets the interviewer thinking of you in the position and not other candidates.

Second, it lets you know what is expected of you in the position over the next 90 days. If the interviewer (assuming it’s the hiring manager) has not thought about any KPIs for the position, it might indicate they are overwhelmed with work, and it might not be a good company for you. See the final chapter of this book for a suggested slide presentation, where you can come up with some of the things you plan to do in the first 30, 60, and 90 days of the job. By doing the slide presentation, you can help hiring managers figure out what to do with you when you start the job. Most other candidates don’t take these extra steps, and this is a good way to impress the hiring manager.

What kind of person succeeds at this company?

This helps you understand how the company defines success. If the answer is someone who works 100-hour weeks, then you should probably run out of that interview as fast as you can.

What do you enjoy most about working at this company?

If the interviewer is happy in their role, then they might share a few things they love. On the other hand, by asking this question, you might be able to save yourself some headaches from working in a toxic environment. It’s amazing what some interviewers will share with you if you ask the right questions (social engineering at its finest).

What does it mean to be a culture fit at <company name>?

This question is a simple way for you to find out from an insider exactly what they are looking for as the “right fit” for the job. However, before asking this question, you should always ask the interviewer what seems to be missing from other candidates.

Some additional tips for your interview

Here are some additional aspects to keep in mind during your interview:

Make eye contact: I would say you want to make eye contact most of the time when you’re listening to the interviewer and when you’re answering questions. Little or no eye contact can make people suspicious and feel you’re not trustworthy.Smile more: Don’t be creepy with this one, though. If someone is constantly smiling in the interview, I immediately feel it’s not genuine. Smile when appropriate, and if you’re introverted like me, then try to remember to smile at least three to four times during the interview, especially when you first meet the interviewer.Appearance: As much as that person you follow on social media might want you to believe that appearance doesn’t matter, it does. Be sure that you’re well-groomed (and showered, please) and dress appropriately. I do recommend a suit (men and women) if you have one, but in most interviews, business casual is fine. I would suggest asking the person who set up the interview what the dress code is. You want to maintain the same dress code for virtual interviews because you don’t know when you may find yourself standing up during the interview and being caught just wearing your shorts—or worse.Research the company: Do your homework on the company—its mission, current/future project initiatives, financials, and so on. I’m always amazed at how many people show up to an interview without having done any open-source intelligence (OSINT) on the company. I had one person walk past the sign with the business name on it and then ask me what company it was in the job interview. Guess what? They didn’t get hired. Avoid being lazy like that person and do your research.Don’t bad-mouth a past employer or team: Yes, some companies (and some people) are not the best for you, but no one wants a negative person on their team. I remember a person I worked with many years ago who was negative about everything, and several productive people left the team because they were tired of hearing endless complaints.

Remember, it only takes one bad apple on a team to change team dynamics and reduce the team’s productivity.

Don’t be emotional: Remember, this is business, so don’t get emotional when talking about past companies, and so on. The interviewer is not your therapist. For example, let’s say a past boss mistreated you. Instead of showing anger or crying during the job interview about the past situation, calmly speak about the situation you experienced in the past, how you recognized that place was not the right fit for you, and what you like about this new company.Be concise in your answers: For most people, this means you need to practice your answers to common interview questions and figure out how you can say less to get the same point across. We have a chapter on behavioral interview questions. I suggest using Problem, Action, Result (PAR) to answer these types of questions—what was the problem you were solving for, who was involved, what did they do, and what was the end result of the situation?

Some job candidates may find it challenging to be concise in their responses. If this is you, here are some things that I used to do during a job interview to reduce my rambling:

To cut a long story short is a phrase I use if I think I’m rambling so that I can wrap up whatever I am saying. You must practice this and be conscious of the fact you are rambling for this one to be effective.Keep your answer short. I used to answer interviewer questions with just a few words and then ask them if they wanted to know anything more about what I had mentioned.The words but and because are also helpful in your interview.

The word but can help explain something you lack and why you are still the right candidate for the job. For example, I don’t have the five years of required incident response experience, but I do have several years of experience in Splunk and managing incidents.

In human psychology, people often only remember everything after the word but, and everything after it is used to justify why they should do something. In this example, you give them a reason to consider you for the job because you do have experience in Splunk, which was also required in the job description.

The word because is helpful in compensation negotiations. For example, let’s say you want to make $100,000 USD and they offer you $80,000 USD, but you know the salary range for the job is up to $120,000 USD.

After they make you the offer, you could say something like I appreciate the offer, but it seems like we should be looking at around $100,000 USD because I have several years of experience with Splunk and in incident response.

A definition of Cybersecurity

Now that you have some basic tips for your interview, let’s talk about this whole cybersecurity thing in case you’re new to the field.

If you ask 100 people the definition of cybersecurity, you’ll get 100 different answers.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines cybersecurity as follows:

Prevention of damage to, protection of, and restoration of computers, electronic communications systems, electronic communications services, wire communication, and electronic communication, including information contained therein, to ensure its availability, integrity, authentication, confidentiality, and nonrepudiation (https://csrc.nist.gov/glossary/term/cybersecurity).

We cover several cybersecurity career paths in this book. Here is an overview of how each career path ties into overall cybersecurity for organizations.

Cybersecurity Engineer

A Cybersecurity Engineer designs, implements, and maintains security systems and controls to help protect organizations from various cybersecurity threats.

SOCAnalyst

A SOC Analyst monitors network and system activities to detect and respond to security incidents.

PenetrationTester

Penetration Testers (sometimes called ethical hackers) identify vulnerabilities in systems and networks and attempt to exploit them before they can be exploited by malicious actors. This helps organizations take a more proactive approach to their cybersecurity.

Digital Forensic Analyst

Digital Forensic Analysts secure, collect, and analyze data from digital devices following cyber incidents. This role is important in the incident response phase. It helps an organization understand what happened during an attack so that the incident response team can mitigate future attacks.

Cryptographer/Cryptanalyst

Cryptographers and Cryptanalysts develop encryption algorithms, which can help organizations protect their data if it is lost or stolen.

GRC/Privacy Analyst

GRC Analysts, Privacy Analysts, and other GRC roles help ensure that organizational practices and data handling meet regulatory compliance requirements and best practices. These roles help in preventing incidents and ensuring compliance by establishing policies and procedures that protect data and reduce risk.

SecurityAuditor

Security Auditors assess the security posture of an organization by reviewing systems and processes to identify vulnerabilities. This role focuses on prevention and compliance by ensuring that existing security measures are adequate and recommending improvements.

Malware Analyst

A Malware Analyst analyzes malware to identify its purpose and indicators of compromise (IOCs) from the malware, which can help the organization protect against future attacks.

Cybersecurity Manager

Cybersecurity Managers oversee the implementation of security policies and procedures across an organization. This role is involved in all aspects of cybersecurity, including prevention, detection, and response, by managing the overall cybersecurity team and implementation strategies.

Cybersecurity Sales Engineer

Cybersecurity Sales Engineers work with clients to design and sell security solutions tailored to their organization’s needs. This role contributes to cybersecurity by ensuring that clients have the necessary tools to help protect themselves against emerging threats.

Cybersecurity Product Manager

Cybersecurity Product Managers lead the development of cybersecurity products through the entire product lifecycle. This role helps client organizations by building security products that meet client needs.

Cybersecurity Project Manager

As the name implies, Cybersecurity Project Managers are responsible for ensuring that projects are executed on time and within budget and achieve their intended security outcomes.

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

The CISO leads strategic planning and governance of cybersecurity across an organization. The CISO is key in all aspects of cybersecurity, setting the vision and strategy to protect the organization from cyber threats and ensuring compliance with security regulations.

The HACK method

I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead as I stared at my computer screen in the darkness of the night. My stomach churned as I watched the timer count down and I thought, Will I make it in time?

Was I doing some top-secret hack against an alien spaceship to save the world?

No—I had simply procrastinated in writing some papers for my classes, and I now had less than an hour to write three lengthy papers.

Besides, I didn’t have my hoodie and gloves on, which we all know is a requirement of any successful hacker (if you don’t understand the joke here, just google it).

With a few minutes left, I submitted all three papers and received an excellent grade on all of them.

What was my secret? Did I hack into the professor’s computer to change my grades? In hindsight, that might have been a good option, but instead, I had learned a long time ago how to hack myself.

In a similar fashion, you can learn how to hack yourself for job interviews using the simple HACK method.

Figure 1.1: The HACK method

Have a look at the following definitions of the HACK method.

How

When applying for jobs, think about how your life is impacted by getting this job. Many people will just focus on the money here, but they should also ask themselves how this job fits into things such as their long-term plans. What sacrifices do you have to make (missing birthday parties, a long commute to the office, and so on) for this job?

Here are a few things I used to always think about:

How long is the commute? I once had to commute 4+ hours each way for a job, so I’d spend much of the week just sleeping in my car near the job site.How much earning ability do I have? Is this just a base salary, or is there an option to earn more with stock options, sales commission, and so on?How much time will I really spend on this job? Because most of us are paid for 40 hours a week in the US but actually work 60+ hours each week.How does this job benefit my 1-, 5-, and 10-year goals?

Analyze

The next part of HACK is analyzing yourself. There are a number of self-assessments out there on the internet, all sorts of personality and aptitude assessments, and so on.

Those are fine to take, but the low-cost route is to get a piece of paper (or your phone notes) and write down what you think is important, how you work through problems/projects, how good you are at time management, and so on.

This is important, so be honest with yourself.

As an example, I do the self-analysis monthly and I know that I am willing to go without eating, sleeping, and entertainment so that I can finish a project. I have no hesitation in sacrificing to complete the mission, which is how I was able to write those 20+-page papers in a short period of time. I also know that I can complete projects quickly, so I sometimes procrastinate until the deadline.

Collect

It’s important to collect information about yourself continuously. The good news is, you’ll likely secure that information better than the large companies out there.

It’s also important for you to collect information about the job you are applying for, the company itself (as mentioned earlier in this book), and what your long-term goals are.

Know

You need to know what success looks like for you. For example, one cybersecurity professional I know makes a relatively low salary but can finish at 5 p.m. every day to have dinner with his family. He’s happy with his job, and that is what defines success for him.

Another cybersecurity professional I know is single and works at a major tech company, working 80+ hour weeks but making close to a million in total compensation. This is the definition of success for her.

It’s crucial to know what success looks like for you and not what people on social media tell you success is.

If you built a life that you never had to take a vacation from, what would that life look like?

Personal branding and soft skills

Many of the hiring managers I have spoken with over the years have mentioned that soft skills are a key part of the ideal candidate. In this section, we will discuss how personal branding and soft skills can help you achieve your goals. Your personal brand can help you develop more confidence, provide better job security, and increase your earnings over your career. When I developed my personal brand years ago, I went from living paycheck to paycheck to having financial freedom.

Why does personal branding matter for job interviews? Building your personal brand does a few things for you:

Helps you get more interviews because you are looked at as a thought leader in your specialtyHelps you build confidence, which in turn helps you have more confidence in job interviewsHelps you when it’s time to negotiate your salary and other compensation

Personal branding

“Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun” was a commercial jingle from McDonald’s in the 1970s. I first heard it years later and I still remember it now.

That’s the power of proper branding.

You are a brand, and you have value. Your personal brand brings value to any organization and helps them make more money.

Let me ask you a question. If you work hard for your brand and a company makes more money because of your brand, wouldn’t it make sense for you to earn more money as well? Hopefully, your answer is yes.

There are many books on personal branding and many ways to build your personal brand. I typically would tell you to focus on LinkedIn and show what you know through videos/screen recordings, posts, or articles/whitepapers.

Your personal brand can help you get jobs.

Adopt the no spray and pray résumé and job application approach—then, you’ll have no we have a few more candidates to interview type of responses and no real pushback on the salary you want. All of this is made possible by your personal brand. For those not familiar with the spray and pray job application approach, it just means that you apply to hundreds of jobs and hope that you hear something back. By building your personal brand, you can get companies reaching out to you instead of you applying to hundreds of jobs on job board websites like Indeed.

Soft skills

You might hear of many companies that advertise that they need people with soft skills. Some of the key soft skills I think someone needs to have are the ability to communicate effectively across different stakeholders, the ability to work in a team, an emotional quotient (EQ), which is also known as emotional intelligence, and customer service skills.

Negotiation 101

Everyone is in sales is a statement from one of my mentors many years ago.

Would you be opposed to me teaching you a trick I have used over the years to win at job interviews and—especially—negotiations?

Most people would answer no to that question because it’s easier for most people to answer naturally with a no to a question than a yes. Also, people want to know what the interview trick I have is, so they would answer no, meaning that they are not opposed to me sharing that trick with them.

I won’t deep dive into sales techniques or human psychology in this book, but a good sales book is The Sandler Rules by David Mattson, and a guy named Josh Braun also has some good training. In addition, the book Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini can be helpful for understanding sales psychology.

Here are a few questions I have used over the years in interviews:

Would you be opposed to…?

Here’s an example:

Would you be opposed to me asking about career advancement for this job role?

Would it make sense…?

Here’s an example:

Would it make sense for us to discuss salary after we’ve seen that this is a good match?

Can you offer your advice on…?

Here’s an example:

Can you offer your advice on how the team manages projects?

It seems…?

(Note: shut up after you use this one and let the interviewer respond.)

Here’s an example:

It seems like you need a minimum salary expectation to move me forward in the application process.

Managing stress

Years ago, I read a book called How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie. I’m not going to share everything in that book (you should buy a copy), but one key exercise had you reflecting on the worst possible scenario that could happen and then asking yourself if you were OK with that happening. If your answer was no, then you had to think through what action you could take to improve the situation.

Here’s an example:

Scenario: Your boss wants a project done by Monday, even though the real deadline is 3 weeks away.Worst-case scenario: You don’t do the project on your days off, and the boss fires you because of it.

Are you OK with this?

Yes, because you already have money saved up to cover expenses while you look for another job. This gives you some freedom, and typically, this scenario wouldn’t lead to termination, since the project is not due for weeks.

No—you really need this job to pay your bills. In this situation, you probably have to suck it up this time and get the project done. However, I would suggest you then focus your spare time on building additional income streams, saving more money, and/or finding a new job. Otherwise, the cycle will just repeat itself.

Some information online suggests that reading a book can help reduce your stress. I’ve personally found that reading can help take your mind away from stressful situations.

Another good book on the subject is Chaos Loves You: So Let’s Love It Back by Jothi Dugar (a cybersecurity executive).

I also practice simple meditation and breathing exercises.

Going back to what I mentioned earlier in the book as well, how you talk to yourself is crucial to your success and in removing stress from your life.

I’m not going to lie to you—cybersecurity careers can be extremely stressful. It’s important for you to recognize if you’re stressed out and identify safe ways to cope. Remember, we as a community are here to support you.

Now that you have a good idea of some common interview questions you might be asked, the questions you should ask, the HACK method, and a few books that I suggest you buy about stress management, let’s move into job-specific interview questions in the upcoming chapters.

Summary

In this chapter, you learned about common interview questions asked in many job interviews. Studying these questions and writing down your answers to them in advance of a job interview can help the interview be less stressful. Speaking of stress, you also learned a simple method to analyze a situation to help lower your stress level about the situation. You also learned how to hack yourself for job interviews. Understanding yourself and your situation (situational awareness) is critical to your success in job interviews and life. In addition, you learned the importance of building your personal brand, some of the key soft skills you need, basic negotiation skills, and simple ways to manage stress.

In the next chapter, you will learn about Cybersecurity Engineer careers and some common knowledge questions you might be asked in a job interview.

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2

Cybersecurity Engineer

In this chapter, you will learn what a Cybersecurity Engineer is and the average salary range for this career in the United States. You will also learn about the career progression options and learn common interview questions for the role. Each potential job title has interview questions listed that you might see in your job interview; however, the questions you get in one might be different than those listed.

The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

What is a Cybersecurity Engineer?How much can you make in this career?What other careers can you pursue?Common interview questions for a Cybersecurity Engineer career

What is a Cybersecurity Engineer?

Cybersecurity Engineers are responsible for building secure infrastructure that helps protect organizations from security threats. Alongside that, they are also involved in security testing activities, like vulnerability scanning and building and implementing security policies and procedures, as well as in incident response and ensuring compliance.

The specific job tasks you do as a Cybersecurity Engineer might vary based on the organization because each organization has different security goals, business objectives, and technology stacks. Other factors like industry best practices and compliance requirements can impact how an organization approaches security, which can impact your daily tasks as a cybersecurity engineer.

These factors can lead to Cybersecurity Engineers performing tasks that could range from network security to compliance and being involved in audits. It is important to look at the job description carefully to see what skills the company is asking you to have and what some of your key tasks will be.

For example, your job title might be Product Security Engineer, and in this role, you would work closely with the software development team to build more secure software. One of your friends might have the job title, Cybersecurity Engineer and be focused on building secure network architecture for their organization.

There are several cybersecurity roles that might include responsibilities from cybersecurity engineering. These other possible job titles include the following:

Security Engineer: A security engineer designs, implements, and manages security solutions to help protect an organization’s digital assets and infrastructure from threats.Product Security Engineer: Product security engineers develop and integrate security measures specifically for software products, ensuring that they are safe from cyber threats throughout their lifecycle.Cybersecurity Architect: A cybersecurity architect designs comprehensive cybersecurity architecture that aligns with business needs, while effectively mitigating security risks.Security Automation Engineer: A security automation engineer develops automated tools and systems to help security operations teams perform their tasks efficiently. This helps the teams focus on the most important alerts.

It is important to keep in mind that the organization you wish to work at might have a different job title and job responsibilities than the ones listed in this book. Cybersecurity Engineers work closely with various teams across an organization, ensuring that security measures are integrated into all aspects of business operations and technology infrastructure. This collaboration is important because security is not just a technical issue but also a business one, impacting everything from compliance and risk management to operational efficiency and reputation.

How much can you make in this career?

Cybersecurity Engineer salaries can vary significantly by location, company, and other factors. In the United States, you can expect to make between $72,000 and $146,000+ for a Cybersecurity Engineer position. The alternate job titles listed above can have a wide range of compensation available. It’s important to search for the specific job title and company you want to work at to see the estimated compensation.

What other careers can you pursue?

A career as a Cybersecurity Engineer builds a solid skill set and can help you prepare for many cybersecurity careers. Some examples are:

Malware Reverse EngineerPenetration TesterCloud Security EngineerCybersecurity Manager

Common interview questions for a Cybersecurity Engineer career

In the following section, you will learn about the common interview questions for a Cybersecurity Engineer. I have also included a few behavioral interview questions and explained what the interviewer is looking for by asking the question. This book has an entire chapter dedicated to behavioral interview questions, so please be sure to read through that chapter before your next job interview.

Remember that clear and concise answers make the interview nice.

General Cybersecurity Engineer knowledge questions

In this section, you will see some general questions that might be asked in a Cybersecurity Engineer job interview. The following questions are separated by job title and reflect questions you might be asked, based on real-life job postings.

Security Engineer Interview Questions

Can you describe a cybersecurity incident you have resolved in the past and explain the steps you took to mitigate risk?

Example answer:

In a previous role, I encountered a massive, Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack. I identified the attack vectors through real-time monitoring and log analysis, implemented rate limiting, and deployed additional firewall rules to mitigate the attack. Post-incident, I led a review that resulted in an enhanced DDoS mitigation strategy, including better traffic analysis and response plans.

How do you manage and secure Microsoft environments, specifically with MS Defender products across different platforms, such as O365, cloud, and identity management?

Example answer:

I have managed Microsoft environments by leveraging MS Defender across various platforms. For example, in O365, I ensured the configuration of Defender for Office 365 against phishing and malware. For cloud environments, I implemented Defender for Cloud to secure Azure services, and integrated Defender for Identity to protect against identity-based threats.

Explain how you have utilized the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) framework in a previous role to improve a security posture. Can you provide a specific example of a policy or procedure you developed based on NIST guidelines?

Example answer:

At my previous job, I integrated the NIST Cybersecurity Framework by aligning our security policies with its core functions: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. I developed an incident response strategy that reduced our mean time to detect and respond to incidents by 30%, significantly enhancing our resilience to cyber threats.

Can you give an example of a security policy you wrote?

Example answer:

I led the build of a new data encryption policy that required the use of AES-256 encryption for data at rest. It also required the organization to use TLS 1.2 or higher for data in transit. I also helped ensure we remained compliant by holding quarterly training sessions with the team and used continuous monitoring solutions to ensure everyone was following the policy.

How do you administer and monitor security profiles and policies?

Example answer:

I review access to ensure only the minimum amount of access needed to perform a function or task is used. I also use tools like Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) to monitor and analyze security logs and aggregate this data in a centralized dashboard. In my last role, I led an investigation team that investigated policy and access violations.

Product Security Engineer Interview Questions

Since the job responsibilities for a Product Security Engineer can vary so greatly across organizations and industries, the question examples below focus on a Product Security Engineer role at a healthcare organization.