CISSP Exam Practice-Quality not what I expected

ejunkie

Thanks for all the great info here. Not wanting to waste my time or get confused with poor quality answers/questions - I plunked down the $60 for CISSP Exam Practice. Software functionality is neat and told me the area I most need development in is physical security. However, in reviewing the Q&A I think they questions in that area were vague and based on something not even listed even in the Shon Harris monster book. Can any experts out there help me understand their reasoning? Example 1 An Internet Service Provider adds a large generator and battery bank to its infrastructure. Which of the following needs to be added to the list of operational procedures? A ) Monthly testing of the generator and annual testing of the batteries Annual testing of the generator and monthly testing of the Batteries C ) Annual testing of the generator and the batteries D )Monthly testing of the generator and the batteries They said answer D, I said answer A both seem like fine answers and I can't see why one is better than the other. I thought frequent testing of batteries would weaken them. What if they had weekly testing is more just better? Example 2 While setting up measures for handling fire hazards, you are concerned that activation of sprinklers, immediately following the detection of a fire may interfere with evacuation activities. Which of the following may be a good option to pursue in such a case? A) Use of a low-pressure sprinkler system Use of a dry pipe system. C)Use of a wet pipe system. D) Use of a manually controlled sprinkler system. They said answer B and I said answer D - not that D was great for obvious reasons like if no one was there to turn it on. Under the thought process human life is most sacred D makes sense, I had ruled out B because Dry Pipe did not define the length of the delay. Is it 1 min, 30 min none of the books said? Their reasoning said delay made dry pipe the best - this was a vague question. Are the true CISSP questions vague like this? I have written engineering exams before and we strove for clearly right and wrong answers. Not sure if I need to change study material or change my mindset. Any advice much appreciated.

cyberguypr

Batteries do degrade. That is exactly why the should be tested often. The OIG does say somewhere to test power related systems once a month.

You said it well; preserving life is priority numero uno. In a chaos scenario I guarantee no one is going to stay behind and manually activate anything. Building will most likely burn to the ground. That right there invalidates D. The dry pipe will give you a minute or two until that air is purged from the system and releases the water. People will have a short window to run away without worrying about gallons of water falling over their heads. That is why it is the best answer.

Amurray22

On the battery & generator questions, I would always lean towards more testing than less. In my real world experience backup power systems are (or should) be tested monthly. Normally the testing will not have a negative effect on the device. The batteries are being loaded constantly so the act of testing should not affect their life and will tell you when a problem is occurring. Also some of the testing is physical, like checking liquid levels and concentration of solution (depending on battery type). The generators are probably not running often so testing to insure they will work when needed is important. It is also good for exercising the machine and limiting build-up. Probably more than you asked for.

I would say for the CISSP questions to think conservatively.

Andy

Jonnyg

You should use multiple sources of practice questions. Seeing questions from different angles and perspectives will help you get more into the mindset of how to think for the exam. The questions are difficult, but I felt all of the ones I received were answerable if you know the material. This includes the "best answer" questions. They say there is always only one right answer and, based on my exam experience, I agree with this statement.

There are some good sources out there to help you get in the mindset to answer the more difficult questions. I used the practice questions from CISSP for Dummies, Eric Conrad, and CCCure. Hit as many different sources as possible.

JDMurray

ejunkie wrote: »

However, in reviewing the Q&A I think they questions in that area were vague and based on something not even listed even in the Shon Harris monster book.

The (ISC)2 is the authority on what's covered in the CISSP exam, not Shon Harris.