CISSP practice tests

mikeyoung

Greetings,

I am taking this exam next month and I am looking for some legit testing engines. I am using Shon's Harris' 3rd, but wonder if that is enough or if it is comprehensive enough. Also, I have taken some of the tests at cccure.org and while they have a huge and well presented collection of tests, the questions almost seem a little too "simplistic," though I LOVE that site and mean absolutely no disrepect. I would apreciate hearing any thoughts, especially from those who have already tested.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

keatron

Here's my advice.

Reading materials.
Shon Harris 2nd or 3rd edition
Krutz
ISC2 official guide

and as many white papers as you can possibly find and read about the CBK domains. I can promise you this. Doesn't matter if you read 20 different books, you will find questoins on the real exam that are not covered in any of the books you read. That is why ISC2 has the experience requirement. Another thing that many people are un-aware of is the fact that every single question on the CISSP exam and in the exam question pool were created, submitted, and approved by CISSP's.

As far as practice tests, the only ones I used were the ones of ccure.org, the ones in the Shon Harris 2nd edition, the ones on the cd that came with the Shon Harris second edition book. I concentrated most of my time into reading tons of literature and getting as deep as possible with each domain. Don't buy into that mile wide inch deep crap. If you're weak on a domain, I'd advise buckling down and nailing them. Think more along the lines of 3 miles wide and 3 inches deep.

The difficult thing about trying to find practice tests for this exam is the fact that you absolutely will not find any that are like the exam. There really seems to be no easily identifiable "style" to the exam questions (probably because of the being submitted by CISSP's part I explained above).

I can offer this help with the questions.

If you're experienced in Infosec, don't try and read between the lines so much. Stick with the question and the answers. When you have one of those many "pick the BEST answer questions" do just that, and analyze the answers based off the scenarios given, don't try to create your own scenarios in your mind and get caught up in "what I would do in the real world" When taking this exam, the real world is those freakin questions.

Good luck man.

mikeyoung

Thanks for the advice, Keatron. I took the class online via Intense School in Oct and have hit their books they gave me pretty hard and I have Shon Harris's 3rd. I am testing on Dec. 10. I have taken several different cert exams, but for this one, exam-wise, I seem to be struggling. I think I have heard so much about it and there is so much material that it often appears overwhelming. But then again, I guess they all do, when you are three weeks out. I am hoping that after the first few questions, I will settle down.. Kinda like that first hit in a football game.

Incedently and for all: I throughly enjoyed the Intense School online training class and would recommend it (I think it is all Vigilar now). Had an outstanding instructor and that makes all the difference. We, the class, just could not stump the guy. It was a little pricey (though not at bad as attending in person would have been).

My only regret is I did not check out testing dates before I took the class. If I had I would have tried to schedule the class and the exam closer together. But this way... there is no excuse not to be ready.

Thanks for reading,

Mike

Webmaster

Hi Mike,

What it the price of the Intense School online course? I might go for the official online course from ISC2:
www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9631
I'm considering on scheduling the CISSP exam for Jan 16th. I've been working on it for some time now, but still need to go deeper into several domains and I've read so much already that I'm looking at these online courses.

I'm also using the ExamForce CramMasters, which apart from the practice questions is cool because it contains an additional study guide (CISSP guide from Que) in PDF as the explanations for the questions.

btw, I've written some practice questions for this exam as well:
www.techexams.net/isc2/exams/start.php?exam=cissp
Although they don't mimic the real exam either, they do cover relevant topics.

mikeyoung

It was $1740. Plus I got a video class I could take any time for an addtional $300, which really was not that useful to me personally and not as comprehensive as the actual CISSP online course. For the $1740, I got the week long class, about 7 hours a day for 5 days, access to their 24x7 book site, which has some tests from Krutz and some other fine books (about all aspects of security and networking) for 90 days and I got access to the recording of the whole class, which I have not used. Which for that price really doesn't sound bad now that I write it all down. Of course my company paid for all of this and I promised to pay it back if I leave within 3 years.

This was the second online course I have taken, the other being CCNA from Global Knowledge. I enjoyed them both and was able to take them from home which is very nice for me (alhtough I can see that if you had kids or pets or any other distractions, that might be a problem) and I would recommend that format. I am comtemplating taking ISSEP (when I get CISSP) the same way.

Good luck with which ever way you go. I hope you go for it and I hope you pass. I hope I pass, too. It is a lot of information for sure and for some reason, I want it really bad.

Webmaster

I agree, it doesn't sound bad considering the cost of a regular instructor-led course. Thanks and good luck to you too!

Ten9t6

I would have to agree...

When I took the exam, I used several books....the one I used the most was the Shon Harris all in one. I also read a lot of the docs on cccure.org. As far as questions......just get as many different looks at the material as possible. Kreaton, is correct...you will not find any questions out there that really compare to what you will see. That's why it is so important to really know the material and read the questions multiple times. The questions that I used were the cccure.org test pool. I did these until I scored high 90s everytime. I also did all of the questions in the Shon Harris book. (CD) And of course Webmaster has some good ones now.

I started gathering information and material for the ISSEP...it looks quite a bit harder. But, for now...I have another 800 pound gorilla in the corner that I am fighting..... I will tackle this one later.

Kenny

mikeyoung

you know what, folks? sometimes it only takes hearing someone else talk positively about these certs and exams to get me pumped up to where I need to be: to stay up that extra hour at night look up the answers to some questions that I missed, or to skip lunch to study just a little more.

I hear ya Ten9t6 about getting the "90" conistantly. On other certs I have taken, I just taken practice exams till I couldn't stand it any more and then I took some more. I know we all do that and we all know we have to do it, but it is good to reaffirm it out loud or at least in a forum so others can see you make the committment.

I am pumped and I am SO going to study my a$$ off for the next 21 daya!

Thanks guys.

Mike

keatron

That's the spirit man, and that's what those of us who have passed these exams are supposed to do, get you guys that are preparing pumped. And I can tell you that you will find more people on here willing to do that than anywhere else on the web. Just make sure that after you pass, you come back and return the favor to others. Remember, one of the ISC2 code of ethics is

"Advance and protect the profession"

Techexams is the best place in the world to do that!!!

mikeyoung

keatron wrote:

Just make sure that after you pass, you come back and return the favor to others. Remember, one of the ISC2 code of ethics is

"Advance and protect the profession"

Techexams is the best place in the world to do that!!!

I will be honored to offer what every assistance I can. I have been a member here for almost a year, not posting much, but reading a lot. I especially want to see this security forum, grow, as network security cunsumes my work life these days.

I know we all need help and I know we always will because the bad guys get smarter, faster and bolder every single day.

So count me in, boys and girls. I'm here for good. Now if you will excuse me, I have spend the rest of my Saturday morning, upgrading the firewall.

Mike