Passed CISSP on 05/20/2017

finishdaafight1 · May 2017

I thought i will create a thread on my experience leading up to the cissip exam.

Experience:
If have over 10 years of experience in the IT....not specifically security.

Learning tools and books:
I used the CISSP (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide, 7th Edition
CISSP Official (ISC)2 Practice Tests
Eleventh Hour CISSP®, 3rd Edition
CISSP Study Guide, 3rd Edition
and very little bit of Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK, Fourth Edition, 4th Edition (maybe just the first 2 domains)
cybrary cissp course (free)

Exam experience:

I have to say, it was pretty hard. It was long but they do give you plenty of time. And, I am a slow reader. I was done in 4 and a half hour and spend the next hour reviewing questions that I flagged (about 45 questions). I took a 10 min break on the 225 mark. I know I took it a little late but I was afraid that I will not have enough time to answer all questions.

First thing I realize about the exam the moment I finished answering all the questions, is that it is virtually all concept based. There is no memorization required. I was worked up memorizing the different key size and hashes but its not like that at all. There is no need to learn about NIST and any laws IMO; just understand at a high level how these standards work. Secondly, I know the exam outline says 10% for software development but i felt like i got a lot of questions from that domain.

One last thing, I don't think you can be 100% prepared for the exam. I did do a lot of practice questions from the books i mentioned above and sybex website (maybe 1500 questions altogether). Also, there were many times where different books had conflicting information about different concept and at one point, i was getting so confused. Personally, just stick to one book all the way; in my case, it was the CISSP (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide, 7th Edition.
i would also recommend safaribooksonline. They have all the books I mentioned and more. Its a one stop for all materials (subscription based).