Chapter 01
Easy — networking, DNS, HTTP, TLS
- ✓TCP handshake, ports, subnets, NAT, proxy vs VPN
- ✓What happens when you type a URL
- ✓How TLS works, and what an analyst can still see
← All guides
❓ Career · 55 pages
The questions a SOC analyst actually gets — easy, medium, and hard.
Networking and TLS first. Then SIEM, Wazuh, WAF, email, URL filtering, IPS, and AWS. Then live incidents: a critical server, a stolen mailbox, a compromised laptop, and a correlation rule you can defend. Every item has the answer you say, plus the extra detail they ask next.
“Say the answer in under a minute. Use the extra note only when they say 'go on.' That is how these interviews actually run.”— Rishav Bhardwaj
Why you need this — honestly
- You can define a SIEM and still freeze when they ask how TLS works or how many bytes are in a packet.
- Tool questions show up as soon as you mention a home lab: agent versus agentless, Wazuh, WAF, email, AWS.
- The round that matters is the scenario: critical server, endpoint, mailbox — including refresh tokens, sessions, and a password reset.
What's inside
Written in plain language. No jargon for the sake of jargon. Every section ends with something you can do, not just read.
Chapter 02
Medium — the tools on a real shift
- ✓Agent-based vs agentless, syslog, and API integrations
- ✓Wazuh home lab: agent, decoder, rule, and a proof alert
- ✓SIEM, WAF, IPS/IDS, URL filtering, email auth, AWS logs
Chapter 03
Hard — bytes and the integration path
- ✓MTU, 1500 vs 65535, MSS, frame vs packet vs segment
- ✓Windows logon or CloudTrail event through to the queue
- ✓What breaks parsing, time, identity joins, and active response
Chapter 04
Scenarios — the first hour of a real incident
- ✓Critical server, domain controller, and a web shell
- ✓Endpoint isolation versus mailbox: revoke refresh tokens, revoke sessions, reset the password
- ✓Device code phishing: real Microsoft login, stolen token, same revocation steps
- ✓A correlation rule you can walk: phish, new sign-in, inbox rule
Perfect if you are…
SOC interview candidatesAnalysts building a Wazuh home labTier 1s who want the technical follow-ups
Related guides
Pair SOC Analyst Question Bank with these — each is a separate instant-download PDF by Rishav Bhardwaj.
The Cyber Roadmap
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SOC Analyst Interview Bible
105+ questions with full answers — basic, intermediate & advanced.
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Resume & LinkedIn Masterclass
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Deep Phishing Analysis
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How to prepare the technical questions a SOC analyst is asked
Hiring loops start with networking and TLS, move to the tools you integrate, then ask how a log or a packet becomes an alert. This bank is that order: easy, medium, and hard, each with the spoken answer and the extra detail.
- Easy: TCP, DNS, HTTP vs HTTPS, and how TLS actually works
- Medium: agent vs agentless, a Wazuh home lab, SIEM, WAF, email, URL filtering, IPS/IDS, AWS
- Hard: bytes in a packet, MTU, and the path from a Windows logon or CloudTrail event to the queue
- Scenarios: critical server, compromised endpoint, compromised mailbox — revoke refresh tokens, revoke sessions, then reset the password
- Practice the answer out loud. Use the follow-up note only when they say to go deeper
Common questions
- What technical questions do SOC analyst interviews ask?
- Easy rounds cover TLS, HTTP versus HTTPS, ports, and DNS. Medium rounds cover how logs arrive — agents, syslog, Wazuh, SIEM — plus WAF, email security, URL filtering, IPS/IDS, and AWS. Hard rounds ask how big a packet is and how an integration turns a raw event into an alert.
- How is this different from the SOC Interview Bible?
- The Interview Bible is scenarios, triage stories, and behavioral answers. This question bank is the technical questionnaire: question, the answer you say, and a short note for the follow-up.
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SOC Analyst Question Bank
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About me
Rishav Bhardwaj — cybersecurity practitioner & author of Cyber Rishav
I've trained 200+ analysts, built blue-team programs inside real enterprises, and still sit in the work — SOC triage, cloud risk, GRC, and IR. These guides are the same structured thinking I use in programs and 1-on-1s, written so you can act this week, not someday.
CISSPCCSKSecurity+CEHISO 27001
Rishav Bhardwaj
Cybersecurity practitioner · Blue team
200+
Analysts coached
10K+
Enterprise seats in IR programs
12
Deep-dive guides
Every guide in this library is something I use when coaching analysts and building programs — not content farm filler. If it does not help you act this week, it does not ship.