CCSK: CSA Certification Passed! Here are some tips!

Katiusha

CCSK exam: passed!
Here is some feedback!

CCSK exam: lots of info about the exam, objectives, domains covers etc. can be found of CSA website so I will skip that.

The newest version (as of June 2014) is V3, exam is 90 minutes, 60 questions, all from the 2 documents (CSA Guide and ENISA) posted on CSA website.

I have studied for the exam, but it was more difficult than I expected.
Good things:
- exam is online (no need to go to the testing center ), I guess it's open book too (no specifications in exam instructions);
- one fee (at the moment, it's $345) gives you 2 attempts! That's sweet!
- CSA Guide and ENISA document cover all the questions, I did not have any "surprises" on the exam mas:

Not so good things:
- exam is more difficult than I expected. I found info in the guide to be dispersed, so it does get confusing;
- I would not suggest on relying on "find" function if you use "open book" (or open laptop for that matter) because many questions involve your understanding and not just definitions of key terms;
- ENISA paper... not fun... I chose to read only the executive summary, I guess reading the entire document would be beneficial but it is pretty dry and yeah.. no fun
- exam is timed, now it's 90 minutes for 60 questions. The times runs quickly!!!

Tips:
- pay attention to Compliance and understand it well (this domain was challenging for me personally; the main point is that compliance info is contained in pretty much every domain so gets confusing for me)
- Cloud Reference Model... quite a few questions on that
- ENISA documents: probably 8 questions or so
- pay attention to Risks and Challenges with moving to cloud computing; questions tests your knowledge on that

Hope this helps in your preparation!!

SephStorm

What certification is it? Never heard of CCSK.

binarysoul

Cloud.

I didn't know either!

https://ccsk.cloudsecurityalliance.org/

JDMurray

Congratulations and thanks for the great review!

qdp

Good job. Thanks for the the review!

GoodBishop

Nice review! Very helpful, I still need to take the test, I've registered, but my last MBA class is brutal, so I might take the CCSK in a few weeks.

safernandez

Hello! My name is Santiago, from Argentine! Good Thread!


I can only read Enisa. Those are searchable questions? It 's very hardly this text!

Thanks!!

DAVIS NGUYEN

Congrats!

ansel1261

Thank you for the tips. I am starting my review for the CCSK.

abhisheksenator

Congratulations and thanks for the detailed review. Anyone done with the V4 exam recently launched ?

yogeshbgupta

Have they started the exam on V4.0. I think both V3 and V4 are available. CSA Security guidelines V4.0 is really good. You can get practice questions on v4.0 on www.secloud.guru

b0Ris

I have taken and passed the CCSK V4 exam. I will answer any questions that are reasonable (not exposing exam questions).

technie

Hi b0ris,

Please share:

1. How you prepared
2. What were the questions like (i.e. straight forward, confusing, key areas to focus)
3. Approx number of ENISA questions (more this time?)
4. Materials you would recommend for preparation.

technie

I sat and passed for CCSK v4 at my first attempt recently!

Here's some useful information:
- it's not as hard / complex as I thought it was, but I do have a background in security + cloud.
- questions are not straight forward, but if you understand a certain topic, you shouldn't have a problem.
- Study the ENISA and CSA manuals. That is indeed all you need.
- Read the manuals at least once.
- You have enough time to answer all questions, and perform the occasional research

Good luck if you're taking this exam.