CC Exam - Passed

D20

Hi everyone,

I took my CC exam this morning and passed! 
I was studying for the AZ-900 test, but stopped since there was a time constraint on this exam\study materials.

Materials used for studying:
The study materials that isc2 provided for free
I bought some Udemy test practice questions also

To me this was more than enough to take and pass the exam.

I think I am skipping the AZ-900  that I was planning on taking and just moving straight to the AZ104 Azure Administrator as my next exam.

JDMurray

Congratulations! Did you take advantage of the (ISC)2's free CC exam offer?

D20

JDMurray said:

Congratulations! Did you take advantage of the (ISC)2's free CC exam offer?

Many thanks! Yes I did take advantage of the free CC exam offer!
Super generous of them in my opinion! 

JDMurray

As an interesting aside, here are the number of (ISC)2 certification holders as of March 2023:

• CISSP: 159,679
• CCSP: 14,707
• CC: 14,448
• SSCP: 7,471
• CGRC: 4,220
• CSSLP: 3,156
• CISSP-ISSAP: 2,307
• CISSP-ISSMP: 1,458
• HCISPP: 1,455
• CISSP-ISSEP: 1,382

For the CC only being around a little while, it has surged ahead of all of the other (much older) certs except for the CISSP. (I assume CC will easily overtake the CCSP's numbers this quarter.)

It's even more interesting that the SSCP--which has been around since the late 1990s--is still under 8K holders. The SSCP is the next logical step up from the CC, but we'll see how many CC holders go for it.

I'm also surprised at how low the number is for the CSSLP despite it being around for many years now and software security being such an important specialty. (This make me wonder how many people were originally grandfathered into the CSSLP without needing to take the exam.)

And finally, with as many people that have both the CISSP and CISM, why isn't the CISSP-ISSMP more popular? Lack of marketing/advertising?

D20

That's very interesting. I'm really surprised at some of those numbers. I think I'd love to go for my CISSP someday, but I need to get more into Azure and understand it all better. 
I've heard that the CISSP is just super hard too!
I am glad I took the CC though. For the price, I couldn't beat it

E Double U

JDMurray said:

• CISSP-ISSMP: 1,458

And finally, with as many people that have both the CISSP and CISM, why isn't the CISSP-ISSMP more popular? Lack of marketing/advertising?

Has to be marketing and demand. ISSMP would be a no brainer for me having both CISSP and CISM, but I don't see what the ROI would be besides bragging rights. 

JDMurray

E Double U said:

...but I don't see what the ROI would be besides bragging rights. 

This is the classic quandary of whether or not something is valuable because it is rare. Does having a CISSP-ISSMP (or CSSLP or HCISPP or ...) mean you have an elite status among InfoSec cert holders, or that you just like to collect paper associated with obscure, never-has-been-in-demand certs (as you said, bragging rights).

Of course, the other side of the coin is where the immense popularity of a cert (CISSP, CCNA, PMP, etc.) can be interpreted as indicating great value because the cert is in great demand, or the value is greatly diluted by so many people holding it.

The analog to all this that come to my mind are Boy Scout merit badges. I suppose at least having certs gives a better chance of getting a first-round interview than having merit badges does.

AllieGBeltz

Congratulations to you.