Cloud Security Engineer Interview

Comprehensive interview preparation for cloud security roles, covering cloud infrastructure security, platform protection, and cloud-native security practices.

Cloud Providers
IAM
Network Security
Monitoring

Technical Questions

Core technical questions specific to cloud security and infrastructure protection.

Cloud Providers

Q: Compare AWS, Azure, and GCP security features

IAM differences, security services, compliance offerings

Q: How do you secure multi-cloud environments?

Unified security, cross-cloud monitoring, policy management

Q: Explain cloud shared responsibility model

Provider vs customer responsibilities, security boundaries

Q: How do you handle cloud compliance?

SOC 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR in cloud environments

IAM & Access Control

Q: How do you implement least privilege in cloud?

Role-based access, permission policies, regular audits

Q: Explain cloud identity federation

SAML, OIDC, SSO integration, directory services

Q: How do you manage secrets in cloud?

Secret managers, rotation policies, encryption

Q: What's your approach to privileged access management?

Just-in-time access, session recording, approval workflows

Network Security

Q: How do you secure cloud networking?

VPCs, security groups, network ACLs, transit gateways

Q: Explain cloud firewall strategies

WAF, DDoS protection, traffic filtering, threat intelligence

Q: How do you implement zero-trust in cloud?

Identity verification, micro-segmentation, continuous monitoring

Q: What's your approach to cloud VPN and connectivity?

Site-to-site VPN, client VPN, direct connect, peering

Monitoring & Compliance

Q: How do you monitor cloud security?

CloudTrail, CloudWatch, security hub, custom dashboards

Q: Explain cloud security posture management

CSPM tools, configuration scanning, compliance monitoring

Q: How do you handle cloud incident response?

Automated response, forensics, containment strategies

Q: What's your approach to cloud governance?

Policy enforcement, cost management, resource optimization

Practical Scenarios

Real-world scenarios to test your practical cloud security skills.

Security Architecture

Scenario: Design secure multi-account AWS architecture

Account structure, cross-account access, centralized security

Scenario: Implement zero-trust for cloud workloads

Identity-based access, network segmentation, continuous verification

Scenario: Secure hybrid cloud environment

On-premises integration, consistent security, unified management

Scenario: Cloud migration security planning

Risk assessment, security controls, compliance requirements

Incident Response

Scenario: Cloud account compromise response

Access revocation, forensics, containment, recovery

Scenario: Data breach in cloud storage

Data classification, breach notification, remediation

Scenario: Ransomware in cloud environment

Backup strategies, recovery procedures, prevention

Scenario: Compliance audit preparation

Evidence collection, control validation, remediation

Tools & Technologies

Essential tools and technologies every cloud security engineer should know.

Cloud Security Tools

  • • AWS Security Hub
  • • Azure Security Center
  • • GCP Security Command Center
  • • Prisma Cloud
  • • CloudCheckr

Infrastructure as Code

  • • Terraform
  • • CloudFormation
  • • ARM Templates
  • • Ansible
  • • Chef/Puppet

Monitoring & SIEM

  • • Splunk
  • • QRadar
  • • Exabeam
  • • Sumo Logic
  • • Datadog