SSCP Attempt notes

Paul Boz

In an attempt to diversify my certifications I have made the SSCP my primary focus. Unfortunately I don't qualify for the experience required for the CISSP so I have to settle for this. Either way, I got the official guide to the exam/CBK from ISC2, the TestOut training videos, and the CBT Nuggets videos. I've gone over a lot of this material studying for the CCNA security and the CISSP, and I see a lot of it day to day at work. I'm hoping that I can take this by end of Feb or early March. I'll be traveling at least three weeks in January and two weeks in February so I can count on some good air plane and hotel studying.

Starting on Friday after I finished the CCIP I read the first two chapters of the ISC2 book. Yesterday I watched the corresponding CBT nuggets and did some practice questions on the first two of the CBK. So far this AM I'm watching the TestOut videos for the same material and plan to do some more questions.

Has anyone that has taken the exam and passed it found any specific training material to be the best? A lot of people put out stuff for this test and it's hard to tell what's junk and what's not.

JDMurray

I passed the SSCP last April. It is basically a "Security++" exam. The question formats aren't very difficult, but the diversity of the information on the exam is a bit boggling. And 25 of the 125 questions are research items and don't count towards the exam's final score, so you need to try and answer more questions correctly than you would think are needed to pass.

I do recommend the Official SSCP CBK book. The study guides and discussion information on the site www.cccure.org is extremely helpful, as are the practice exams at www.freepracticetests.org . Also read through the articles on the relevant SSCP CBK topics on www.wikipedia.org .

You can use CISSP material to study for the SSCP, but you won't need to look at the physical security, operational security, application security (except for Malware), or laws and ethics domains of the CISSP CBK. And remember that the SSCP is more technical than the CISSP, so make sure you dig a little deeper into how things work and how to fix things and not so much on the business and managerial aspects of the material.

The SSCP is a good exam and a great way to prep for the SSCP. I would just suggest that you don't let too much time elapse between taking the SSCP and CISSP exams like I did.

dynamik

I have the Wiley and Syngress books as well. Let me know if the CBTs are any good; I wasn't planning on using them.

Are you familiar with JD's experience? He posted some good information.

http://www.techexams.net/blogs/jdmurray/the-sscp-certification-experience

Edit: Too slow

JDMurray

I forgot about the Wiley and Syngress books. Buy them very cheaply at a discount book place. I paid about $5 each for them. The SSCP exam has been updated much since they were released. And don't forget to get the SSCP Candidate Information Bulletin from the www.isc2.org Web site to get the offical list of SSCP CBK domain topics to study for the exam.

dynamik wrote:

Edit: Too slow

You're just too use to making the second posting in every thread.

shednik

JDMurray wrote:

dynamik wrote:

Edit: Too slow

You're just too use to making the second posting in every thread.

Ouch dynamik...feel the burn....and yes(that's what she said )

gwamaka

Lets keep this thread alive, I am planning to sit for SSCP on March 29th here in Chicagoland. I haven't started studying for the test yet, but I will do so from first week on 2009. It seems 3 months is about an average time that is reasonable to be prepared for the test.

I have acquired the ISC2 SSCP office guide as well as the Syngress SSCP guide and might acquire the CBT nuggets if they receive a good feedback. Is it a good idea to stick with SSCP specific materials or one can use the Shon Harris CISSP book as well? I am planning to sit for CISSP few weeks after the SSCP and wanted to get feedback how others have approached this.
The reason I am asking this, is because SSCP is deemed more technical than CISSP, so I guess if you use the official SCCP stuff you will be able to delve relatively deeper on the technical stuff, whereas if you use the CISSP material , you might get a managerial perspective of security. I would like to get the technical depth prior to the managerial stuff.

I will try to be more active in this forum as I prepare for the SSCP and later for CISSP. Wish me luck and goodluck to all (JD) that are waiting for CISSP results.

Happy holidays !

Paul Boz wrote:

In an attempt to diversify my certifications I have made the SSCP my primary focus. Unfortunately I don't qualify for the experience required for the CISSP so I have to settle for this. Either way, I got the official guide to the exam/CBK from ISC2, the TestOut training videos, and the CBT Nuggets videos. I've gone over a lot of this material studying for the CCNA security and the CISSP, and I see a lot of it day to day at work. I'm hoping that I can take this by end of Feb or early March. I'll be traveling at least three weeks in January and two weeks in February so I can count on some good air plane and hotel studying.

Starting on Friday after I finished the CCIP I read the first two chapters of the ISC2 book. Yesterday I watched the corresponding CBT Nuggets and did some practice questions on the first two of the CBK. So far this AM I'm watching the TestOut videos for the same material and plan to do some more questions.

Has anyone that has taken the exam and passed it found any specific training material to be the best? A lot of people put out stuff for this test and it's hard to tell what's junk and what's not.

Paul Boz

CISSP stuff is a bit different - the material is much more broad and general. I only studied the CISSP material b/c I intended to get that certification.

The ISC2 book and the CBT nuggets are apparently good enough.

JDMurray

gwamaka wrote:

It seems 3 months is about an average time that is reasonable to be prepared for the test.

It depends on how much you already know and how well you study.

gwamaka wrote:

Is it a good idea to stick with SSCP specific materials or one can use the Shon Harris CISSP book as well?

Re-read my previous posts in this thread. The CISSP study material is good for the SSCP if you know what topics to avoid. I recommend using it if you will be testing for the CISSP after the SSCP.

Paul Boz

This isn't dead, I've just been finishing off a few Cisco certs

Tonight I started back on the beginning just to refresh myself. I got through Access Controls no problem. I'm going to have to travel to take this test and I'm already on the road three weeks out of February for my job so I'm looking at either some time in March or April. Obviously the longer I study the greater odds I'll have of doing well on the exam, but I don't want to get "too bored" with the material and start working on something else in the mean time. I'm going to have to pace myself.

Paul Boz

I just landed in Boston about an hour ago - reporting from the Crampton Inn in Braintree. I knocked out CBK #7 (malicious code) and half of the telecom / networking CBK #6 on my flights here. I'm going to finish the telco/networking CBK tonight. It is probably the easiest so far, as a large portion of my work experience is in telecom networking. I've found that by studying the CBK "out of order" I'm enjoying the mateiral a lot more.

JDMurray

In my write-up on studying for the CISSP, I mention that you need to study what CBK material you find yourself interested in at the moment. It's a lot of material. If you find that you are forcing yourself to learn a topic or domain, switch to another that you find more enjoyable at that moment to learn.

However, if you right at the eve of taking the exam, you will have to force yourself to read the material that you've been skipping. Good luck!

contentpros

Without saying too much and violating any NDAs. For future test takers, understanding best practices and how they apply to various situations is always good practice.