CISSP Experience

Discussion in 'Computer Security' started by Rob1234, Jan 19, 2012.

  1. Rob1234

    Rob1234 Megabyte Poster Forum Leader

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    CISSP Experience

    Thought I would write a review of my experience of studying for the CISSP.

    Studying material used:

    CISSP For Dummies This book is very basic and does not go in to detail at all but is good if you have little knowledge about the area and want a gentle introduction. Would give it 8/10 but don’t rely on this as you only study material!

    CISSP AIO This book is massive and contains almost everything you need to know for the exam and more. In some places it goes in to more detail then necessary but I think this is a must for anyone thinking of doing the CISSP would give it 9/10

    Official CISSP Guide This is the official guide so I would definitely recommend getting this book it is not as easy to read as the CISSP AIO guide but cuts out some of the fluff that book has and gets straight to the point. Would give it 8/10.

    Preploigc Audio book – Listened to this once thought it would be good to listen to them while on the tube but they were too short with very little detail and did not cover the domains well at all. Would give it 3/10.

    Official CISSP Exam questions These questions were very expensive for what they were I felt however they were good but I felt they were a bit easier than the question in the actual exam. I would give them 8/10.

    CCURE Quizengine I paid the $39 or whatever it was to get and would highly recommend them think there was around 2000 questions some were a bit old and not related to the exam but overall very good and the way you can save exams mid-way through and compare past exams etc. Would give 9/10 and say anyone doing the CISSP should buy them.

    I spent the first few months just reading the books then I started doing the practise exams as well I would recommend doing as many practices questions as possible. After 6 months of studying I was ready for the exam.

    Exam:

    The exam is 250 questions and you have 6 hours to do the exam, I took some rolls and a few snacks with me and we were told we could eat them but I did not have time. Took me about 5 and half hours to do the exam. Had been a long time since I had to use a pencil and paper in an exam! Was a lot tougher than I expected and you really cannot tell whether you have passed or not. A lot of the questions have two answers and you have to pick the best one and this is really difficult because both answer are technically correct some of the question all 4 answers were correct but you had to pick the most correct. After the exam the long wait begins as they have to send the papers off to be marked took 4 weeks to get the results and I passed!

    Now on to my next certification ISO270001 Lead Auditor!
     
    Certifications: A few.
    wagnerk, onoski, pete.grant and 2 others like this.
  2. Kitkatninja
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Kitkatninja aka me, myself & I Moderator

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    Cool congrats :)

    Do you already have the experience for the CISSP or are you going for the Associate of (ISC)² for the CISSP?

    Sorry if you've already mentioned it :)
     
    Certifications: MSc, PGDip, PGCert, BSc, HNC, LCGI, MBCS CITP, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCE, A+, N+, S+, Server+
    WIP: MSc Cyber Security
  3. Rob1234

    Rob1234 Megabyte Poster Forum Leader

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    Thanks!

    I have the experience for it and there is a couple of CISSPs where I work so one of them is going to endorse me.
     
    Certifications: A few.
  4. Kitkatninja
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

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    Even better :thumbleft
     
    Certifications: MSc, PGDip, PGCert, BSc, HNC, LCGI, MBCS CITP, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCE, A+, N+, S+, Server+
    WIP: MSc Cyber Security
  5. PPD2387

    PPD2387 Byte Poster

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    Excellent guide Rob - thanks very much! The main issue putting me off studying for and sitting the exam is the requirement to gain 40 credits per year once you have gained CISSP to prove continued professional development/study. How do you plan on going about this because I can't see (given the examples provided by ISC2) how I could ever accumulate the required number of credits.
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2012
  6. Kitkatninja
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Kitkatninja aka me, myself & I Moderator

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    What about looking into the SSCP or even the CAP program from ISC2?
     
    Certifications: MSc, PGDip, PGCert, BSc, HNC, LCGI, MBCS CITP, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCE, A+, N+, S+, Server+
    WIP: MSc Cyber Security
  7. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    Major congrats:) as this is a milestone of an achievement. Well done and thanks for sharing your study technique and experience.
     
    Certifications: MCSE: 2003, MCSA: 2003 Messaging, MCP, HNC BIT, ITIL Fdn V3, SDI Fdn, VCP 4 & VCP 5
    WIP: MCTS:70-236, PowerShell
  8. Monkeychops

    Monkeychops Kilobyte Poster

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    I thought this would be an issue but to be honest I've had no problem keeping up with the CPEs. They give a lot of advice on the site as to how to rack up easy points, and you only need a days conference or 2 a year to really bump things up.

    Even better if you get stuck on something like a weeks training course, easy 40pts right there :)
     
  9. Bri1981

    Bri1981 Byte Poster

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    Hi Pete, I've had no problem with this either. Some easy CPE's to be had with registering for the ISC2 webinars, you are allowed to count reading a certain number of IT books. I got most of mine from doing the ITIL courses though (also relevant for my CISM and PMP which was nice!)
     
    Certifications: See signature
    WIP: MBA entry diploma
  10. Rob1234

    Rob1234 Megabyte Poster Forum Leader

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    Thanks guys!

    Pete as the others have said there is a few ways to gain the CPEs from the way I read on the ISC2 website they leave it quite open to how you can gain the points you need a minimum of 20 a year and 120 over 3 years. I am going to keep studying for different things and these earn CPEs and I would of done the studying regardless of the CPEs you can even get CPEs for reading a security magazine. Also am going to look at becoming an invigilator for the ISC2 exams if that is possible should get some points that way as well.
     
    Certifications: A few.
  11. PPD2387

    PPD2387 Byte Poster

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    Cheers for the feedback guys.
     

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