Top 30 VAPT Interview Questions and Answers

Top 30 VAPT Interview Questions and Answers

Suppose you are preparing for a job interview considering the job profile related to VAPT skills. In that case, you can read this amazing article mentioning the Top 30 VAPT Interview Questions and Answers, clearing your doubts regarding the interview sessions.

Moreover, we have mentioned a reputed training institute offering a dedicated training & certification program regarding penetration testing. What are we waiting for? Let’s get straight to the topic!

What is VAPT?

The security procedure known as Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) finds, assesses, and fixes vulnerabilities in a system, network, or application. Penetration testing mimics attacks to take advantage of vulnerabilities, whereas vulnerability assessment concentrates on identifying and disclosing vulnerabilities.

When combined, they lower the chance of breaches and improve overall security. Following are the Top 30 VAPT Interview Questions and Answers, clearing your doubts about the interview. Let’s get forward!

VAPT Interview Questions and Answers

1. What is VAPT, and why is it important in cybersecurity?

Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing, or VAPT for short, is a thorough security evaluation that finds and takes advantage of weaknesses in an organization’s IT applications and systems. The following are the factors stating the importance of VAPT in cybersecurity:

1. Proactive Risk Identification,
2. Compliance with Regulations,
3. Protection of Sensitive Data,
4. Prevention of Financial Losses and
5. Enhanced Security Posture.

2. What is the difference between vulnerability assessment and penetration testing?

Penetration testing takes advantage of the vulnerabilities found by vulnerability assessments to ascertain the true impact.

3. What are the different types of penetration testing?

Following are the different types of penetration testing:

1. Black Box Penetration Testing,
2. White Box Penetration Testing,
3. Gray Box Penetration Testing,
4. Internal Penetration Testing,
5. External Penetration Testing,
6. Web Application Penetration Testing,
7. Wireless Penetration Testing,
8. Social Engineering Penetration Testing, and
9. Physical Penetration Testing.

4. What are the common steps involved in the VAPT process?

The following are the steps involved in the VAPT process:

1. Planning & Scoping,
2. Information Gathering,
3. Vulnerability Assessment,
4. Penetration Testing,
5. Post-Exploitation Analysis,
6. Reporting & Documentation, and
7. Remediation & Follow-up.

5. What is the difference between internal and external penetration testing?

While external penetration testing mimics attacks coming from outside the company’s network, internal penetration testing mimics attacks coming from within the network.

6. What is the OWASP Top 10, and how does it guide VAPT?

A widely accepted standard for the most important web application security threats is the OWASP Top 10. In the following ways, it guides VAPT:

1. Prioritizing Testing,
2. Providing a Common Language,
3. Guiding Vulnerability Discovery,
4. Informing Remediation Efforts, and
5. Raising Awareness.

7. Can you explain the MITRE ATT&CK framework?

A knowledge base known as the MITRE ATT&CK framework lists the adversary tactics, techniques, and common knowledge (TTPs) that cybercriminals employ.

8. What common compliance standards require VAPT (e.g., PCI DSS, ISO 27001)?

Following are some of the common compliance standards requiring VAPT:

1. PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard),
2. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act),
3. GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation),
4. ISO 27001, and
5. NIST Cybersecurity Framework.

9. What is PTES (Penetration Testing Execution Standard), and why is it significant?

A standardized method for performing penetration tests, the PTES framework guarantees efficacy, consistency, and repeatability in detecting and reducing security threats.

10. What are the phases of reconnaissance, and how do they contribute to penetration testing?

The foundation for successful penetration testing is laid by the phases of reconnaissance, which include both passive and active techniques. These phases collect information about the target system to identify potential vulnerabilities and entry points.

11. What is SQL injection, and how would you test for it?

A web security flaw known as SQL injection enables hackers to insert malicious SQL code into database queries in an application, possibly leading to data theft, alteration, or deletion. You can test SQL injection by following the below steps:

• Manual Testing:

1. Identify Input Points,
2. Basic Tests,
3. Error-Based Tests, and
4. Union-Based Tests.

• Automated Tools:

1. SQLMap, and
2. Burp Suite.

• Other Techniques:

1. Blind SQL Injection, and
2. Time-Based Blind SQL Injection.

12. How would you identify and exploit an XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) vulnerability?

An XSS vulnerability can be found and used to steal user cookies, reroute users to malicious websites, or compromise the functionality of a website by inserting malicious JavaScript code into the input fields of a web application.

13. What is CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery), and how can it be tested?

A web security flaw known as cross-site request forgery (CSRF) deceives a user into carrying out an unauthorized action on a reliable website, like transferring money or altering account settings. You can test it in the following steps:

• Manual Testing

1. Identify sensitive actions, and
2. Test for missing CSRF tokens.

• Automated Tools, and
• Other Techniques

1. Analyze network traffic, and
2. Review source code.

14. What is the purpose of privilege escalation in penetration testing?

By gaining unauthorized access to higher levels of control within a system or network, privilege escalation in penetration testing aims to give the attacker deeper access to sensitive data and the ability to carry out more destructive actions.

15. How would you identify and exploit server misconfigurations?

Server misconfigurations can be found and used to obtain unauthorized access, steal data, or initiate additional attacks by looking for open ports, verifying default configurations, and examining server logs.

16. What is the role of tools like Nmap, Nessus, and OpenVAS in VAPT?

Popular VAPT tools for network scanning, vulnerability scanning, and locating possible attacker entry points include Nmap, Nessus, and OpenVAS.

17. Can you explain how to use Metasploit for penetration testing?

In the following ways you can use Metaspoilt for penetration testing:

1. Information Gathering,
2. Vulnerability Scanning,
3. Exploit Selection,
4. Payload Selection, and
5. Exploit Execution.

18. What is Burp Suite, and how is it used in web application testing?

A comprehensive platform for testing web applications’ security, Burp Suite can intercept proxies, scanners, intruders, repeaters, and more.

19. How do you perform network vulnerability scanning?

In the following steps, you can perform network vulnerability scanning:

1. Define Scope,
2. Choose Scanning Tools,
3. Configure Scans,
4. Run Scans,
5. Analyze Results,
6. Remediate Vulnerabilities, and
7. Schedule Regular Scans.

20. What are the differences between active and passive reconnaissance?

While active reconnaissance entails direct interaction with the target system to obtain information, passive reconnaissance obtains information from publicly accessible sources without doing so.

21. How would you test for vulnerabilities in APIs?

In the following steps, you can test for vulnerabilities in APIs:

1. Understand the API,
2. Test Authentication & Authorization,
3. Input Validation & Sanitization,
4. Data Exposure, and
5. Security Headers.

22. What is fuzz testing, and how is it applied in VAPT?

Fuzz testing is a useful technique in VAPT for detecting unexpected behaviors and security flaws because it involves giving a program or system invalid, unexpected, or random data as input to find vulnerabilities and crashes.

23. How do you identify and assess zero-day vulnerabilities?

You can identify & assess zero-day vulnerabilities in the following ways:

1. Proactive Threat Intelligence,
2. Advanced Threat Hunting,
3. Sandboxing & Emulation,
4. Code Review & Analysis, and
5. Vulnerability Research & Development.

24. What are common techniques for evading intrusion detection systems (IDS)?

The following are the common techniques for evading intrusion detection systems (IDS):

1. Packet Fragmentation,
2. Protocol Encoding,
3. Traffic Splitting,
4. Spoofing Techniques, and
5. Exploiting IDS Limitations.

25. How do you handle post-exploitation activities?

Deeper access to the compromised system, persistence, data theft, and possibly lateral movement to other systems within the network are all examples of post-exploitation activities.

26. What are the key components of a VAPT report?

The following are the key components of a VAPT report:

1. Executive Summary,
2. Scope and Methodology,
3. Vulnerability Findings,
4. Risk Assessment,
5. Remediation Recommendations,
6. Testing Evidence,
7. Appendices, and
8. Contact Information.

27. How do you prioritize vulnerabilities based on risk?

Using techniques like risk scoring and prioritization matrices, vulnerabilities are ranked according to a combination of criteria, including impact, exploitability, severity, and business context.

28. What is CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System), and how do you use it?

A standardized framework for assessing the seriousness of vulnerabilities in computer systems is called CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System). You can use it in the following ways:

1. Assess Vulnerability Characteristics,
2. Assign Base Score,
3. Consider Temporal Metrics,
4. Determine Environmental Metrics,
5. Calculate the Overall Score,
6. Prioritize Remediation,
7. Communicate Risk, and
8. Track & Trend.

29. How do you ensure that vulnerabilities are remediated after testing?

You can ensure that vulnerabilities are remediated after testing in the following ways:

1. Establish a Vulnerability Management Program,
2. Assign Ownership & Responsibilities,
3. Prioritize Vulnerabilities,
4. Implement Corrective Actions, and
5. Verify Remediation Effectiveness.

30. How do you communicate technical findings to non-technical stakeholders?

By avoiding technical jargon, speaking clearly and succinctly, and concentrating on the vulnerabilities’ possible effects on business.

Conclusion

Now that you have read about the Top 30 VAPT Interview Questions and Answers, you might be prepared a bit to crack the interview session with ease. Moreover, you might have an idea of what kind of questions would be there in the interview.

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