9/15/2017 (3) Acio interview: what willbe asked in acio interview?

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Acio interview: what willbe asked in acio interview?

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1 Answer

Ayas Ranjan, works at The Odia Connection

Answered Aug 20, 2015

I had my interview on 17th August. We weren't allowed to interact much after the interview, so I don't
have a generic idea about the questions. So this answer is mainly based on my personal experience.

The interview board consisted of 4 people: one older chairman, one technical, one defense(or atleast
someone with sound knowledge about internal & external security issues) & a North East guy (whose
primary job is to observe your body language & physical reactions)

First up is general questions:-

the place you belong

your educational background (special attention if it's a premier institute, they might ask some
insti related questions as was the case with me)

Why the gap between study & now (if any)

How was your campus interviews & your success in them!

What other exams have you applied for & their status?

Profession of family members (if it's police or army related they would ask relevant qns like who
is the commissioner of ur city etc.)

Meaning of your First name and Surname.

Why IB over your graduation field?

Why should we select you ?

How will your Degree be useful in this Job ?

Then comes the technical guy:

What was your favorite subject in graduation? (In my case this was the most crucial question as
it dictated the rest of my interview. I said Network security :'( I know so stupid of me)

What are the internationally accepted Encryption standards? (I said DES, RSA but they wanted
more :| )

Are there any open source encryption standards?

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How would you use a Keylogger to keep watch on a terrorist? (I said we can install it in a
computer that we know he would use sometime in the future and pray that he doesn't install a
strong antivirus. Then we can have an idea about the exact key he is pressing but now a days
many use virtual keyboards. So this method would be subjected to too many ifs & buts, hence
less effective)

Without having physical access to the PC, can't you do it? (Yes we can. If we know the IP & MAC,
we can try installing it remotely provided the PC has a very weak security system.)

What do you mean by weak security system? (beat around the bush saying antivirus, firewall but
I know there are more complex methods :P)

If it has a strong security system, what would be your course of action? (bruteforce FTW)

Explain bruteforce attack? (told)

What are the ways a terrorist can hide himself from a network? (explained abt data
encapsulation but he wanted just the techniques not their explanation :D then I moved on to
VPN & proxy servers)

What is TOR & how it works? (a server which reroutes the data through many proxy servers, so
that it is untraceable to the source. I knew about the layers, onion concept but was afraid of
further questions, hence didn't say anything further)

How does wikileaks gather its information? (I have no idea how it relates to my branch, probably
they ask some out of the blue questions to observe your reaction in unprecedented scenarios)

What is VOIP ? (simply expanded it, as i had no idea about its mechanisms) How is it different
from normal trunk calling? (told 1 happens through a fixed line between exchanges, other
happens through satellite. Later remembered it's about circuit switching & packet switching but
it was too late then )

After getting skinned alive, they pointed to the soft spoken North Eastern guy who took pity & asked a
solitary question
"Name five north eastern insurgency groups !" (I could only answer ULFA, Bodo & NSCN- IM)
"Can you expand IM?" (its Isac something)
He cut me lose and pointed to the final panelist.
What is the most difficult situation out of Naxalism, NE insurgency & Kashmir militants?
(difficult in terms of our ability to control them?)

In terms of our ability to get rid of them. (It would be Kashmiri militants by a large margin as
others can be done away with developmental activities while this involves stakeholders from
both the parties)

Who are the two parties? (India , Pak)

Aren't Kashmiris a stakeholders in this. (Yes, they are. sorry sir I forgot to mention it earlier)

What would you do to achieve peace if u get posted in Kashmir as an intelligence officer? (I don't
think an intel officer can do anything which would result in peace as it involves multiple

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stakeholders)
They seem dissatisfied but nevertheless spared me & freed me from that panic room. More than the
accuracy of your answers, your composure matters. If u don't know any answer don't go beating around
the bush as you'll be humiliated during the resulting counter questioning which would not only waste
your time but also will build a -ve impression. Simply say I don't know & pray that the next question
would be an easier one. Most importantly try to avoid incorporating terms which are their forte (like I did
saying CNS is my fav subject)
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