CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-001) Interview Questions

Given the difficulty of the CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-001) exam, it’s considered by many to be one of the toughest exams in the industry. The developers of the pen-testing certification have built the test in an intentionally challenging way. So, to pass the interview requires a great level of expertise with the fundamentals. The following are interviewing basics you should know in order to set yourself apart from other candidates:

In the first place, an ethical hacking mindset, and understanding of risk and compliance principles, along with scoping and customer requirements
Second, competency to perform vulnerability scanning, passive and active reconnaissance, and analyzing the results of these exercises
Understanding the ins and outs of social engineering, network attacks, wireless attacks, application-based attacks, cloud-based attacks, and post-exploitation techniques
Knowing the importance of informing clients about the findings and related risks of the pen testing process
Last but not the least, experience with the updated tools and techniques for recognizing, analyzing, and explaining the use of scripts in various software applications

The questions you’ll most likely be asked in the CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-001) interview are those that reveal the most about your personality, strengths and weaknesses, and ability to succeed. So here’s a list of some highly likely questions in the CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-001) interviews.

1. Can you explain the purpose of an engagement plan?

Engagement planning is an integral part of a successful project. Engagement planners must consider the strategies and objectives of the area or process under review, prioritize the risks related to the engagement, and include specific objectives, timelines, and resource allocations.

An engagement plan describes the people to whom you will communicate your improvement efforts, the methods you’ll use to reach them, how often you will update them, and who will be responsible for communicating with them.

2. Why is legal compliance essential?

Legal compliance is a set of processes and procedures that help you adhere to government regulations, reduce risk in your business, and ensure that you’re doing the right thing. If you aren’t adhering to legal compliance procedures, it is likely that you are putting yourself at risk. The Legal compliance department is in charge of finding ways that your organization can make sure they are doing things the right way.

3. What is the need for conducting compliance assessments?

To assess the current state of compliance oversight, management, and risks in a given compliance area, a Compliance Assessment should be conducted.

4. Why do we perform a vulnerability scan?

A vulnerability scanner enables organizations to monitor the security of their networks, systems, and applications. Most security teams use vulnerability scanners to identify potential threats to computer systems, networks, and applications.

5. What is the turnaround time for a vulnerability scan?

Vulnerability scanners can take anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes to scan a range of IP addresses. Web scans might only take 2 to 4 hours. Network administrators and internal security teams can automate their scans, which would allow them to manage the scans in a more centralized way.

6. Approximately how often does your network perimeter undergo vulnerability scanning?

It is highly recommended to perform network vulnerability scans at least once per quarter. However, vulnerability scans may be required more frequently if compliance, infrastructure changes, or your internal network security capabilities demand it.

7. What is done with the vulnerability assessment results?

A vulnerability assessment is a review of your information system’s vulnerabilities, which are problems that could allow an intruder to access a system or network. The review assigns a level of severity to each vulnerability, and it can also suggest ways to correct vulnerabilities.

8. Can you name the four main kinds of vulnerability?

The four main categories of vulnerability are:

Firstly, physical vulnerability
Second, economic vulnerability
Then, social vulnerability
Finally, environmental vulnerability.

9. What makes social engineering attacks so successful?

In today’s world, social engineering is recognized as one of the most effective ways to obtain information and breakthrough a defense’s walls. Although technical defenses (like firewalls and overall software security) have become substantially better at protecting against outside entities, social engineering is so effective because real human beings are often the weakest part of any security system.

10. What, as per your knowledge, is the best way to defend against social engineering attacks?

In order to reduce the threat of social engineering attacks, you should focus on security awareness. If users are aware of the dangers of revealing information and can properly protect confidential data, intellectual property, and digital systems, they will be less vulnerable to social engineering attacks.

11. Can you name the best practices that can be used as a defense against social engineering attacks?

Firstly, not providing any password resets in a chat window
Then, resisting the urge to click on enticing web links
Most importantly, educating the employees regarding policies

12. Can you tell the most common forms of social engineering attacks?

Digital social engineering attacks take the following five forms:

Firstly, Baiting: these attacks make use of false promises for piquing a victim’s greed
Second, Scareware: here the victims are bombarded with false alarms and fictitious threats
Further, Pretexting
Phishing
Last but not the least, Spear phishing

13. How is social engineering different from phishing?

Social engineering involves tricking people into giving fraudsters what they want. Whereas, phishing is one of the more common techniques used; it usually occurs via email.

14. How would you explain network-based vulnerabilities?

When a security vulnerability is discovered in an operating system or software, it can potentially put the whole network at risk. There are two types of network vulnerabilities: physical and non-physical. A virus or malware may infect the operating system and put the computer network at risk of viruses and spyware that could affect the whole network.

15. Can you tell the three types of network service vulnerabilities?

The three main categories that network service vulnerabilities fall into are hardware-based, software-based, and human-based.

16. What do wireless vulnerabilities mean?

Wireless networks, due to their ability to transmit data through the air, are more vulnerable to attacks than are wired networks. It is easier for an attacker to access a wireless network from a distance compared to wired networks.

17. Why are wireless networks are more vulnerable to attacks than wired networks?

Wireless networks may use outdated encryption protocols that could leave you vulnerable. One common encryption convention for wireless networking devices, WEP (Wireless Encryption Protocol), is considered weak and easily susceptible to being hacked.

18. What is the impact of a web application vulnerability on an organization?

Attackers use common security issues like outdated software or plugins to hack into servers and take control of the system. Here, organizations including the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) help companies and people stay informed about the latest exploits.

19. Can you describe post-exploitation?

After a successful exploit or brute force attack, post-exploitation refers to any actions taken using the shell or other system resources. It extends the access we’ve gained for our clients by pivoting from one compromised machine to another, enabling us to gain more value for our clients. A post-exploitation shell can be a standard shell or Meterpreter.

20. Why is post-exploitation important?

Post-exploitation is a valuable skill for penetration testers because it allows us to move swiftly between compromised machines and seamlessly integrate into the network. Once a penetration tester exposes a network’s flaws, they can use those points of entry to expand access and exploit the network further. Pivoting from one compromised machine to another adds real value for clients.

21. How can we use Nmap to obtain information?

Nmap is a robust network-scanning tool that uses IP packets to identify the hosts and IPs active on a network, analyze these packets to provide information on each host and IP, and analyze the operating systems running on these machines.

22. What are some of the features of Nmap?

Host discovery – Analyzing network traffic to identify hosts communicating with a malicious server, such as hosts that respond to TCP and/or ICMP requests or have a particular port open.
Port scanning– Discovering the open ports on target hosts can provide useful information about security flaws.
Version detection – Network services on remote devices can be interrogated to determine the application name and version number.
TCP/IP stack fingerprinting – Predicting a network device’s operating system and hardware capabilities by observing the network activity of the said device.
By incorporating the Nmap Scripting Engine and the Lua programming language, developers can create new scripts for the tool.

23. Can you explain the typical uses of Nmap?

Firstly, it can be used to audit the security of a device or firewall, such as determining its network connections
Second, it is best used to identify the open ports on a target host before beginning an audit
Network inventory and mapping which is useful for maintaining the integrity of your company’s network infrastructure
Then, Auditing network security to identify any new servers that have been added without your knowledge
Subsequently, Traffic generation, response analysis, and response time measurement processes used for the creation of dynamic web pages
Finding and exploiting network vulnerabilities
Finally, for searching DNS queries and subdomain

24. How would you describe the term mitigation in vulnerability treatment?

Mitigations are “band-aids” or stopgaps to lessen the likelihood and/or impact of a vulnerability being exploited. You should use this option as a temporary solution to buy time for an organization to eventually remediate a vulnerability.

25. What are the four steps to vulnerability management?

The most important stages are:

Firstly, identifying vulnerabilities
Second, evaluating vulnerabilities
Then, treating vulnerabilities
Finally reporting vulnerabilities

26. What is the purpose of remediating vulnerabilities?

Remediating vulnerabilities is of utmost importance because it reduces the risk of breaches, denial of service attacks, and interruptions in operations caused by ransomware or other threats. Vulnerability remediation is the most critical element of any internet-connected network. Effective and efficient vulnerability remediation will help reduce risk and improve resiliency against a broad range of threats.

27. What is the optimal timeframe for remediating vulnerabilities?

All critical vulnerabilities should be remediated within 15 days of initial detection, and high vulnerabilities should be remediated within 30 days of initial detection.

28. Who is responsible for the non-rectification of a vulnerability?

The IS team runs scans, prioritizing the vulnerabilities and reporting them. They also monitor the compliance of websites and servers, making sure that they are not removed if vulnerabilities are not remediated in a timely manner.

29. Can you tell the most essential step in the penetration testing planning and scoping process?

Penetration testers should perform a reconnaissance stage before any other tests because they can discover important information they might miss otherwise.

30. When does vulnerability scanning take place during pen testing?

During a penetration test’s testing phase, the tester scans all of an organization’s systems—or just a specific system—for potential vulnerabilities.