Amazon Security Engineer interviews reported by candidates start with a recruiter and technical phone screen, then a multi-interview loop. Expect incident response, threat modeling, code review, cryptography, networking, and Leadership Principles stories.
$154K
Avg. Base Comp
$340K
Avg. Total Comp
Not reported
Typical Rounds
Not reported
Process Length
Candidates describe an Amazon Security Engineer interview that tests hands-on security reasoning alongside Leadership Principles. Five of the six reports describe a technical phone screen or a loop, and the topics vary: one candidate's screen included a roughly 130-line Java code review, a scripting question, and a behavioral question, while another's went straight into incident response.
The most repeated themes are threat modeling and incident response. One candidate says a session opened with threat modeling, followed by OWASP Top 10, cryptography, and scripting. Another reports a loop weighted toward incident response, cloud and AWS security, detection scenarios, and Linux and networking. A further report describes open-ended prompts, such as threat modeling a vending machine or designing a cloud bookstore and finding its misconfigurations.
Fundamentals also come up. Candidates mention the TLS handshake and PKI certificate chains, and one was asked about ports, switches, and SSH versus remote access. Another report says scripting was small file-parsing tasks rather than LeetCode-style problems.
Behavioral questions appear throughout. Several candidates say they were expected to answer in STAR format, and one says each loop round had two Leadership Principles questions, so prepare varied stories. One candidate was asked to defend the frameworks on their resume and to describe a threat they identified and mitigated. Five candidates report no offer, and one did not report an outcome.
Synthesized from 6 candidate reports by our editorial team.
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Synthesized from candidate reports. Individual experiences may vary.
Candidates report a short recruiter call, sometimes by phone or Chime, focused on background and what the role involves day to day. One candidate also describes an online application beforehand and a 60-90 minute skills and culture exam. Expect to summarize your security experience concisely.
Candidates describe different screens. One had scripting, a roughly 130-line Java code review, and a behavioral question. Another was asked about incident response and log analysis. Others report OWASP Top 10, cryptography, threat modeling, or networking basics. Prepare to think out loud.
One candidate reports a Chime video screen with a lead or subject-matter expert after the recruiter step and exam. Another describes a technical screen with open-ended questions and no deep dive into past work. This step may vary by team, so confirm the format with your recruiter.
Candidates report a loop of several interviews. One says four or five rounds depending on the team, and another describes a full day of panel interviews. Technical areas include incident response, AWS security, secure code review, cryptography, scripting, and cloud architecture threat modeling, plus Leadership Principles questions.
One candidate says behavioral questions were part of every stage, and several say STAR format was expected. Another says each loop round had two such questions, advises against reusing stories, and mentions a possible bar raiser round made up of Leadership Principles questions. Prepare several distinct security stories.
