Cyber Technical Interview

What is bash ?

BASH is short for Bourne Again SHell. It was written by Steve Bourne as a replacement to the original Bourne Shell (represented by /bin/sh). It combines all the features from the original version of Bourne Shell, plus additional functions to make it easier and more convenient to use. It has since been adapted as the default shell for most systems running Linux.

My Linux server keeps losing network connectivity. How do I troubleshoot this ?

First we need to look at it from the OSI model in what layer it is. For example, if you can SSH to a server, but the server can't connect to a MySQL database, the problem is unlikely to be the physical or data link layers on the local server. In general, it's a good idea to work your way down the stack. Start with the application, and then gradually troubleshoot each lower layer until you've isolated the problem because that would be the fastest to slowest.

Where do you get your security news from ?

I get it from thehackernews.com. I like that it has the latest news in cybersecurity and the layout of the website is easy to read as I can search news by category such as data breaches, vulnerabilities, or cyberattacks.

What is the difference between Linux , Unix , and GNU ?

Linux and GNU are open source, unix Linux can be freely distributed, as it is an open Source OS. So anyone can get a copy of Linux from books, magazines, or from the internet also. For server versions, organizations typically pay distributors for a support contract, not the software. UNIX is costly as compared to Linux; the midrange UNIX servers are priced in between $25,000 and $249,999 (including hardware).UNIX is an operating system, but it was expensive. Therefore, the Free Software Foundation developed GNU operating system with a lot of free software. It allows users to copy, develop, change, and distribute software as required. Linux is the combination of GNU software and Linux kernel.

Where does Linux store its logs ?

Regardless of which Linux distribution you are using, the log files reside in /var/log/ directory..A log file contains information about the activity of a specific service or a program in plain text, with a time stamp.Linux log files come into picture when there is an issue with the system, and you have to look at the log files to troubleshoot it. In another case, log files are handy to system administrators. They always need to know what is happening and when.

Which Linux command do you love the most ? Why ?

Sudo. It stands for "super user do!" Sudo is the best and safest way to elevate privileges. If you switch as root instead of using sudo the first command you issue may go well. But your forgetfulness will cause you to stay logged in as root. One bad typo and BAM! With the sudo command, you have to enter in "sudo" before every command. That means you don't have to remember to switch back to regular user mode, and fewer accidents will happen.

Tell me about the last time you analyzed logs in Linux for security issues or for fun .

This is something I was taught from the beginning is very important. I know that without the ability to view system logs reliably, understand what they mean, and know how to use them, problems can go unnoticed. During my time at my bootcamp I downloaded a Virtual Machine and starting playing with bash, creating users, and attempting to log in with a failed password. Then I would view the var/log/faillog to see how It would come to play. It turned out to be fun playing with privileges and logins. Definitely helped me understand it much more.and view the Linux event logs are placed into four categories: application logs, event logs, service logs, and system logs.

Which Linux distribution do you like the most ?

Ubuntu Server runs on all major architectures, including x86-64, ARM64, POWER9, IBM s390x, RISC-V, and more. The distro is also popular for building cloud computing platforms, and the project also offers cloud images for AWS and Azure.

How would you read a file in the Linux terminal ?

Well it depends what kind of file it is. For example, if its a log file and I wanted to see who were the last people to sign in, I would use tail to see the end of the file. Or if I wanted to view a small file I would use "cat". Or if I wanted to view and search inside the file, I would use the "less" command.