- AES Encryption & Block Ciphers
- What are the four main primitives in a round of AES?
- What is a block cipher mode? Describe one mode and its properties.
- Public-Key Cryptography & Key Exchange
- Why is authentication necessary in Diffie-Hellman key exchange?
- What is a downgrade attack in cryptographic protocols? How can it be prevented?
- Digital Signatures & Certificates
- Compare HMAC-SHA3 with RSA-based digital signatures in terms of security properties.
- What is a digital certificate, and how is it used in HTTPS?
- Hash Functions & Security Properties
- What are the key security properties of cryptographic hash functions?
- How does SHA-3 address weaknesses found in SHA-1?
- One-Time Pad & Symmetric Encryption
- Explain the concept of a One-Time Pad and its advantages and disadvantages.
- Buffer Overflows & Memory Corruption
- How can an attacker exploit a buffer overflow vulnerability in C programs?
- What are stack canaries, and how do they prevent buffer overflow attacks?
- Return-Oriented Programming (ROP) & Code Execution
- What is ROP, and how can it be used to bypass security protections?
- Explain how attackers manipulate memory layout to execute arbitrary code.
- Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) & Mitigations
- How does ASLR protect against memory corruption vulnerabilities?
- What are the limitations of ASLR?
- Heap-based Exploits
- What is a heap-based overflow, and how can it be exploited?
- Describe a mitigation technique for heap-based vulnerabilities.
- SQL Injection & Database Exploitation
- What is SQL Injection, and how can it be prevented?
- Convert a given vulnerable SQL query into a secure, parameterized statement.
- Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
- What is a server-side persistent XSS attack? Provide an example.
- How does Content Security Policy (CSP) help mitigate XSS attacks?
- Cookies & Authentication
- What is a cookie, and why is it necessary for web applications?
- What security attributes can be set on cookies to prevent attacks?
- DNS Security & Attacks
- What is DNSSEC, and what are its three main security goals?
- Explain how DNS poisoning works and how it can be mitigated.
- Denial-of-Service (DoS) & Distributed DoS (DDoS)
- What is an amplified DDoS attack, and how does it work?
- What is a Slowloris attack, and how does it differ from traditional DoS attacks?
- Firewalls & Network Protection
- How does a firewall work, and what are the differences between a Packet Filter (PF) and a Stateful Inspection Firewall (SIP)?
- How does a firewall prevent unauthorized access?
- Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) & Onion Routing
- What is the difference between VPNs and onion routing (Tor)?
- What is a Tor bridge, and how does it help bypass censorship?
- Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS)
- What are the basic assumptions behind Intrusion Detection Systems?
- Explain the differences between signature-based and anomaly-based IDS.
- Biometric Authentication & Security
- What are the most important weaknesses of static biometrics?
- Why is fallback authentication crucial for security?
- Privacy & Anonymity on the Internet
- What is an anonymity set, and how does it improve privacy?
- What is steganography, and how can it be used in real-world applications?
- Tor & Onion Routing
- How does circuit construction work in Tor?
- How does Tor protect against ISP eavesdropping?
- Secure Authentication Methods
- What is the most secure authentication mechanism for smartphones?
- How do OTP generators work, and why are they useful for two-factor authentication?
- Cryptography will likely include AES, public-key cryptography, digital signatures, and hash functions.
- Software Security will focus on buffer overflows, ROP attacks, ASLR, and heap-based vulnerabilities.
- Web Security will emphasize SQL Injection, XSS, CSP, and cookie security.
- Network Security will highlight DoS/DDoS attacks, VPNs, firewalls, and intrusion detection systems.
- Usable Security & Anonymity will involve biometrics, Tor, anonymity sets, and authentication mechanisms.