The Top 10 Ey Information Security Analyst Interview Questions and Answers

Getting hired as an Ey Information Security Analyst can be challenging, but being prepared for the interview will give you a huge advantage. In this article, we provide an overview of 10 common Ey Information Security Analyst interview questions, example answers, and tips on how to best prepare. Whether you’re interviewing for a junior or senior role, read on to get the inside scoop and ace your next interview!

1. What experience do you have in information security?

Information security experience can encompass a wide range of responsibilities. When answering this question, focus on the aspects most relevant to the role you’re interviewing for.

For example:

• If you have experience conducting security audits and risk assessments, focus on your methodology and highlight instances where you successfully identified vulnerabilities.

• If you have experience monitoring security tools and investigating incidents, highlight your capability working with SIEMs, IDS/IPS, firewalls, etc. and your process for triaging alerts and determining root causes.

• If you have experience developing security policies and procedures, focus on how you worked with various teams to define appropriate controls and supported awareness training.

The key is to emphasize the breadth of your experience as it aligns with the needs of the role, Quantify past achievements and illustrate your technical capabilities This will demonstrate you have the right foundation to be successful as their Information Security Analyst

2. What does a typical day look like for you in this role?

With this question, the interviewer wants to understand your priorities and workflow in managing various security operations responsibilities

In your response, you can cover:

• The daily monitoring activities you conduct, such as reviewing reports, tracking threats, verifying system logs, alert triage and investigation, etc.

• Meetings with stakeholders and leadership to communicate risks, discuss security issues, or brief on incidents.

• How you balance reactive work like investigations with proactive work like audits, testing security controls, and creating recommendations.

• Collaborating with other internal teams like networking, engineering, application development, etc. on security-related efforts and providing guidance.

• How you stay current on the latest security threats, attack techniques, regulatory issues, and technologies.

Conveying your ability to juggle various initiatives, prioritize critical tasks, and collaborate with key players will showcase your aptitude for this role.

3. How do you stay up-to-date on the latest cybersecurity trends and threats?

Cyber threats evolve extremely quickly, so interviewers want to ensure you have a disciplined process for continually expanding your knowledge as a security professional.

In your response, you can cover:

• Security publications, blogs, and forums you follow on a regular basis. Highlight thought leaders and luminaries in the industry.

• Conferences, webcasts, training courses, and other resources you leverage for ongoing education.

• How you put new learnings into practice, such as implementing new tools, updating policies and procedures, conducting more rigorous audits, etc.

• Security certifications you’ve obtained or are pursuing to demonstrate your commitment to learning.

• How you share relevant threat intelligence with stakeholders throughout the organization to empower others.

Position yourself as intrinsically motivated to keep your skills current. Demonstrate how you apply the latest know-how to enhance security and spread knowledge.

4. How do you determine if a security incident warrants escalation?

Quickly escalating critical incidents is key for Information Security Analysts. When answering this question, you can cover:

• The criteria you use to evaluate the severity of incidents, such as likelihood of breach, data sensitivity, potential scope of impact, etc.

• Examples of previous incidents you escalated, the methodology you used for assessing their criticality, who you engaged, and the results.

• Your experience working cross-functionally during security incidents, like collaborating with legal, communications, engineering teams.

• Your thought process in determining whether to involve external parties like law enforcement.

• How you keep leadership regularly apprised of ongoing investigations.

Share examples that demonstrate your business acumen in understanding what constitutes high severity. Outline your process for urgent internal notifications and determining when to leverage outside help.

5. How do you balance security needs with business needs?

Security and business objectives are often at odds, so interviewers want to know you grasp the nuances of this tension. In your response, highlight:

• How you maintain ongoing dialogue with business and technology teams to understand their goals and requirements.

• Your experience implementing controls like firewall rules, access restrictions, multi-factor authentication, etc. in a flexible way that aligns to business needs.

• How you provide data and metrics to various stakeholders about the security benefits and potential drawbacks of different measures and tools.

• Your ability to speak the language of the business when proposing security initiatives, focusing on risk reduction, cost savings, transparency, etc.

Demonstrating empathy for business priorities and framing security best practices appropriately will prove you can liaise effectively across the organization.

6. How do you evaluate the effectiveness of security awareness programs?

Measuring and monitoring the success of security awareness training demonstrates due diligence. In your response, cover:

• Quantitative metrics like reductions in phishing susceptibility rates or percentage of employees completing training modules.

• Qualitative feedback gathered through methods like surveys, focus groups, or talking to managers.

• Process improvements made based on findings, like implementing new training formats, customizing content for certain roles, increasing frequency of phishing simulation emails.

• How you keep training fresh and engaging by continually introducing new modules, gamification techniques, relevant examples tailored to current events.

• Your role as an ambassador reinforcing security best practices day-to-day.

Highlighting the use of data along with anecdotal evidence provides a well-rounded approach to evaluating and enhancing awareness programs.

7. How would you respond to signs of an insider threat in your organization?

When interviewing for an Ey Information Security Analyst role, you must demonstrate the ability to identify and professionally respond to insider threats. In your response, you can cover:

• How you proactively detect potential insider threats through means like heightened monitoring, user behavior analytics, honeypot systems, etc.

• Indicators of an insider threat, like unauthorized access attempts, transferring sensitive data, suspicious email patterns, policy violations, etc.

• Your process for gathering evidence discreetly prior to confronting the individual.

• How you balance the rights of the employee with the security of the company when investigating.

• When and how to appropriately escalate concerns internally or involve external legal authorities.

• The importance of maintaining proper documentation throughout the process.

Convey your technical know-how in detection along with your ability to handle insider threats in a confidential, ethical manner.

8. How do you stay motivated in an information security role?

Information security roles can be high-pressure and stressful at times. When answering this question, you can highlight:

• Your passion for continuous learning about the evolving threat landscape. Convey your intrinsic intellectual curiosity.

• Job satisfaction protecting your organization’s assets, people, and reputation. Emphasize how meaningful it feels to mitigate risks.

• Adrenaline and excitement responding to incidents and attacks. Note how you thrive under pressure.

• Pride in introducing new security processes and seeing their impact. Quantify successes you’ve achieved.

• Camaraderie and knowledge sharing with your talented, dedicated security team.

• Maintaining a healthy work-life balance with activities and relationships outside work.

Present yourself as someone passionate about information security and driven to make contributions in the field. Share what energizes you in the role.

9. How do you evaluate risks presented by third-party vendors?

Information security applies to third parties too, so interviewers want to understand your process for assessing and managing vendor-related risks. In your response:

• Explain how you ensure vendors undergo appropriate security reviews through methods like surveys, document collection, interviews, site visits, and scans.

• Discuss contractual protections like ISOs, indemnities, limitations of liability, and cyber insurance requirements implemented to mitigate third-party risks.

• Share how you periodically monitor vendor security practices through audits and develop plans to remediate findings.

• Highlight the security controls you require vendors to implement, like multi-factor authentication, data encryption, access restrictions, vulnerability testing, etc.

• Note your experience with due diligence reviews during vendor mergers and acquisitions.

Illustrate your expertise ensuring end-to-end security protections are maintained when relying on third parties.

10. Do you have any questions for us?

Always wrap up your interview by asking 1-2 thoughtful questions to learn more about the role, company, and team dynamics. This demonstrates sincere interest in the position.

Some examples include:

• How do you foster professional development and learning for security team members?

• What are the biggest cybersecurity challenges currently facing your organization?

• How does the security team collaborate with other groups like the networking, engineering, and application development teams?

• What qualities make someone really successful in this role at your company?

• What is your vision for enhancing cybersecurity defenses over the next