CCSP Passed - 15 Mar 2018

Passed the CCSP exam today. I would consider this a ISC2 type exam; tough! I took my CISSP a long time ago, so this was a reintroduction to ISC2 style exam. Studied for about 2 months. Also, took the official ISC2 CCSP training course. Didn’t really take any practice tests. And the questions at the end of the chapters are just a joke and don’t remotely resemble the actual test questions. Felt pretty comfortable at the end, but decided to do a quick review anyways. Now just waiting on endorsement, but since I am already a CISSP, shouldn't be problem.

Resources:

CCSP Sybex Book (Preferred book) (8/10)
The Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CCSP CBK, 2nd Edition (This book has tons of content, and information is really fragmented. It was hard to read at times…DRY) (6/10)
ISC2 CCSP Training Course (4/10) (If you are in Cyber Security you can potentially skip the course. However it was good to get together with other InfoSec professionals for a week & discuss)
Cybrary CCSP Videos (Nice videos to have running in the background)
Quickly scanned over NIST 800-53.

Recommendations/Thoughts:

I work in Cyber Security and Cloud Security space daily. As others have said, a CISSP is highly recommended before writing this exam. It absolutely builds on the concepts and takes it to the next ‘cloud’ level.

Next up:

Maybe GCIH* or CISA…but thinking 2019.

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Comments

H-bomb

Congrats!

JoJoCal19

Congrats on the pass! I'm studying for it now actually. Finding the material from the Official CCSP Study Guide an easy read, very easy to understand and digest. Similar to when I took the CISSP. I took the CISSP after about 2-3 weeks of concentrated study and will probably use the same approach with the CCSP.

joneno

JojoCal - You have a MSISA from WGU and you are currently working on MS Cybersecurity, did I read that right?

geraldgreen22

Nice work! Nice tips, I would recommend sitting for the CISSP first as well.

JoJoCal19

joneno wrote: »

JojoCal - You have a MSISA from WGU and you are currently working on MS Cybersecurity, did I read that right?

That is correct. Shoot me a PM.

DAVIS NGUYEN

Congrats!

Clm

Jo Jo i was wondering why the double masters ? why not move to a doctorates ?

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

That is correct. Shoot me a PM.

JoJoCal19

Clm wrote: »

Jo Jo i was wondering why the double masters ? why not move to a doctorates ?

The only Doctorates program that I was interested in (DSU) requires previous CS education, which I have none of. Also, for where I'm at in my career and where I'm trying to go, I felt the in-state MS in Cybersecurity looks better and as cheap as it is, figured why not.

I am midway through the CCSP study guide (actually studying right now but on a breakfast break). The material seems so easy. This type of stuff just comes easy to me, much like the CISSP did. I'm looking to do this in a two week period.

ansionnachcliste

JoJoCal19 wrote: »

The only Doctorates program that I was interested in (DSU) requires previous CS education, which I have none of. Also, for where I'm at in my career and where I'm trying to go, I felt the in-state MS in Cybersecurity looks better and as cheap as it is, figured why not.

I am midway through the CCSP study guide (actually studying right now but on a breakfast break). The material seems so easy. This type of stuff just comes easy to me, much like the CISSP did. I'm looking to do this in a two week period.

I'm just about ready to sit the exam.

I agree, that the material is fairly easy. However, much like for my CISSP studies, the practice exams found online and mostly in the books were nothing like the real exam. I'm finding the wording for the CCSP questions to be putting me off.

With that said, I said "screw it" and stopped using CISSP practice questions as they were giving me doubt. I passed the exam with 2 hours to spare (back in October).

Are you finding any practice questions to be useful? I'm going to stop using them and just focus on what I've learnt already.

JoJoCal19

ansionnachcliste wrote: »

Are you finding any practice questions to be useful? I'm going to stop using them and just focus on what I've learnt already.

I actually haven't started using the official (ISC)2 practice question book yet. I'm going to finish this read through (will probably be done Wednesday) and then hit the practice exam book. I'll then study any areas I may be weak on, and take another practice exam (I think there are probably 2-3 exams in the book).

freedom777

Congratulations! I just completed reading and taking notes on the (ISC)2 Official Study Guide. Did all the chapter quizzes, averaged about 88% and finished bonus exam#1 with 90%. After this I will go through the Official Practice Tests and revise my notes on any weak areas. I plan on taking the exam by the end of April. I have still yet to read the recommended NIST documents and ENISA guide.