Code Room
On-callHardoc-g681
Subject Networking tlsLevel Senior–Staff~40 minCommon in Networking & APIs interviewsIndustries Technology

Question

After a routine TLS update — rotating the cert and tightening the allowed cipher/protocol list to disable older suites — a subset of clients suddenly fail to connect. The web dashboard and modern mobile apps work; but an older mobile app version, several B2B partner integrations, and some IoT devices now fail at connection setup. Server logs show TLS handshake failures: 'no shared cipher' / 'unsupported protocol' for the failing clients, and no failures for successful ones. Error rate from these client classes went to ~100%; everyone else is unaffected. The change also dropped TLS 1.0/1.1 support. Triage, mitigate, and decide the durable path.

What a strong answer looks like

Stop the bleeding first (mitigate), then form hypotheses from real signals. Separate root cause from symptom, communicate status as you go, and close with what prevents a repeat.

Diagram & narrate the incident
Loading whiteboard…
Run or narrate your approach, then ask the coach.