VPN Mock Interview

Master 30 VPN interview questions covering protocols, security architecture, and troubleshooting.

Question 15 of 30

Can you explain how the two IPsec protocol headers are used in a VPN?

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William Swansen has worked in the employment assistance realm since 2007. He is an author, job search strategist, and career advisor who helps individuals worldwide and in various professions to find their ideal careers.

While the nuances of VPN technology are transparent to the users and business leaders, people working in the IT department and managing the technology must be intimately familiar with all the technology's protocols, processes, and procedures. This is why most questions you will be asked during an interview will focus on the technology, specifics about how it works, and the protocols it employs. Interviewers use these questions to confirm your qualifications for the job and see if your knowledge aligns with the operations of their IT department.

William Swansen

"There are two types of IPsec protocol headers: Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) and Authentication Header (AH). ESP is an IP-based protocol that uses port 50 to transmit data between IPsec peers. ESP is used to protect the information's authenticity, confidentiality, and integrity and provides anti-replay protection. The only issue is that ESP does not protect the outer IP header and may expose the user's IP address. AH is also an IP-based protocol that uses port 51 for communication between IPsec peers. AH does protect the IP header. It is used to secure the integrity and authenticity of the data but does not protect confidentiality. It also provides anti-replay protection."

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30VPN Interview Questions & Answers

Operational

1.When deciding whether to use VPN, what items do you consider? What do you then consider when selecting, deploying, and maintaining VPN?

Operational

2.VPNs have a reputation for solving most, if not all, network security issues. Are there any unreasonable expectations for a VPN or issues it doesn't address?

Operational

3.What are the reasonable expectations as to what a VPN can do to protect an organization's network and proprietary information?

Technical

4.What are some of the firewall issues relevant to the selection and deployment of a VPN?

Operational

5.Are there applications or environments in which VPNs may be detrimental and cause more harm than they do good?

Technical

6.What are some of the crypto-related best practices recommended in the operation of a VPN?

Technical

7.What are some of the performance issues raised by the use of a VPN?

General

8.When vetting VPN Product Vendors, what are some of the tougher questions you ask them to qualify their solutions and determine if they are appropriate for your requirements?

Technical

9.What are some of an organization's security vulnerabilities that a VPN will address?

Operational

10.In your opinion, is a VPN a long-term solution or a short-term stopgap to an immediate security threat?

Technical

11.Can you discuss the differences between authentication, confidentiality, and integrity in the context of VPNs and network security?

Technical

12.What are symmetric and asymmetric encryption, and how is each used?

Technical

13.Can you explain the differences between transport and tunnel mode data transmission?

Operational

14.In what scenarios are site-to-site and remote access VPN employed?

Technical

15.Can you explain how the two IPsec protocol headers are used in a VPN?

Technical

16.Can you describe how ISAKMP and IKE protocols work?

Technical

17.What Are Security Associations (SA), and how are they used?

Technical

18.What Are Crypto Maps, and how are they used?

Technical

19.Can you define SSL VPN and discuss how it differs from IPsec VPN?

Technical

20.Are there more than one SSL VPN mode, and if so, can you describe them?

Technical

21.Can you walk me through the steps in an SSL handshake?

Technical

22.Can you explain Next Hop Resolution Protocol (NHRP) and how it is used in VPN?

Technical

23.What is a Diffie-Hellman key, and how does it work?

Technical

24.Can you explain DMVPN?

Technical

25.Can you explain the difference between static crypto maps and dynamic crypto maps?

Technical

26.What commands do you use to check the status of a VPN tunnelâ€™s phases 1 & 2?

Technical

27.What Is a Cisco Easy VPN, and what are its benefits?

Technical

28.What are the different modes for Secure Sockets Layer Virtual Private Network or SSL VPN?

Technical

29.What Is meant by the term â€˜Transform Setâ€™?

Technical

VPN Mock Interview

Can you explain how the two IPsec protocol headers are used in a VPN?

30VPN Interview Questions & Answers

1.When deciding whether to use VPN, what items do you consider? What do you then consider when selecting, deploying, and maintaining VPN?

2.VPNs have a reputation for solving most, if not all, network security issues. Are there any unreasonable expectations for a VPN or issues it doesn't address?

3.What are the reasonable expectations as to what a VPN can do to protect an organization's network and proprietary information?

4.What are some of the firewall issues relevant to the selection and deployment of a VPN?

5.Are there applications or environments in which VPNs may be detrimental and cause more harm than they do good?

6.What are some of the crypto-related best practices recommended in the operation of a VPN?

7.What are some of the performance issues raised by the use of a VPN?

8.When vetting VPN Product Vendors, what are some of the tougher questions you ask them to qualify their solutions and determine if they are appropriate for your requirements?

9.What are some of an organization's security vulnerabilities that a VPN will address?

10.In your opinion, is a VPN a long-term solution or a short-term stopgap to an immediate security threat?

11.Can you discuss the differences between authentication, confidentiality, and integrity in the context of VPNs and network security?

12.What are symmetric and asymmetric encryption, and how is each used?

13.Can you explain the differences between transport and tunnel mode data transmission?

14.In what scenarios are site-to-site and remote access VPN employed?

15.Can you explain how the two IPsec protocol headers are used in a VPN?

16.Can you describe how ISAKMP and IKE protocols work?

17.What Are Security Associations (SA), and how are they used?

18.What Are Crypto Maps, and how are they used?

19.Can you define SSL VPN and discuss how it differs from IPsec VPN?

20.Are there more than one SSL VPN mode, and if so, can you describe them?

21.Can you walk me through the steps in an SSL handshake?

22.Can you explain Next Hop Resolution Protocol (NHRP) and how it is used in VPN?

23.What is a Diffie-Hellman key, and how does it work?

24.Can you explain DMVPN?

25.Can you explain the difference between static crypto maps and dynamic crypto maps?

26.What commands do you use to check the status of a VPN tunnelâ€™s phases 1 & 2?

27.What Is a Cisco Easy VPN, and what are its benefits?

28.What are the different modes for Secure Sockets Layer Virtual Private Network or SSL VPN?

29.What Is meant by the term â€˜Transform Setâ€™?

30.What Is Ike, and what communication port does this protocol use?