Passed CCSP - Certified Cloud Security Professional

TheFORCETheFORCE Member Posts: 2,297 ■■■■■■■■□□
Just got out of the test center a few minutes ago. Had the exam in the morning. The exam is 125 questions and you are given 4 hours to answer the questions. Finished in 3:30 hours including a 5-10 minutes break and had time to go over 1 answered question and 5 marked questions for review. I changed maybe 3-4 different questions during the review.

The study material for this exam are everywhere, meaning information regarding cloud systems are wildly available either free resources such as white papers and standards, videos, and books.

Purchased the CCSP CBK guide by ISC2 on a discount because of the membership, costed me $40. I read this book once cover to cover and answered the questions at the end of each chapter. Reviewed the glossary and definitions once and went over all the question/answers at the back of the book the week before the exam. This was my main book that I finished completely within 1 month. Other resources was the CSA guide v3, studied about 100 pages of this guide while at work, this is a free resource. Other free resources used were the NIST publications, anything with Cloud computing in it, read it. Anything with cloud storage in it, read it. These guides were used as supplemental materials to the CCSP CBK for things I didn't understand. Read some VMWare online documentation regarding resource pooling, shares,limits, reservations, virtualization etc, things again that I wanted to understand a bit more in depth. Know your SSO solutions and standards, protocol and architecture and the like. Know the laws and regulatory compliance areas, these topics are covered in the CISSP but for the CCSP are even more relevant because of the locations of the data centers.

Few tips for the exam, just like any other exam. If you struggle with a question, having trouble understanding or flat out have never seen the topics in question, mark it, skip it and review it at the end. Had a few questions like that, marked 6 of them, for the others I used process of elimination to get to the Best answer of the available choices, for others used some common sense and real world experience.

My experience, have B.S degree in Computer Science, CISSP, ITIL, A+. I've been in IT for over10 years, have worked as Helpdesk, Desktop Support, and various roles in InfoSec. Currently working in InfoSec and have exposure to cloud based solutions from a customer's side. Also, I am managing our Federated Identity solution so have hands experience in SSO implementations. The work experience definitely helped with the exam. Being a new exam, you definitely need to utilize your experience as currently there isn't one resource that includes everything. There are too many information and scattered all over the place.

Now waiting for ISC2 to confirm by exam results, probably early next week. Any questions, I'll try to answer without violating the NDA.

P.S can we have a sub-form for CCSP on the cloud forum similiar to Comptia Cloud?
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Comments

  • DAVIS NGUYENDAVIS NGUYEN Member Posts: 1,472 ■■■□□□□□□□
  • Mike7Mike7 Member Posts: 1,107 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Congrats and thanks for the review. You now join a small group of 70++ CCSPs in US. icon_thumright.gif

    Was the CSA material useful to CCSP? Any plans to take CCSK exam?

    The CCSP (and CCSK) posts are currently scattered in ISC2 and Cloud Certifications forums. I second the suggestion for a new CCSP sub-forum.
  • TheFORCETheFORCE Member Posts: 2,297 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Thanks everyone! CSA material was useful but the most useful were the NIST publications. CSA was almost the same as the CCSP cbk but they were a better read and easy to understand. Not going to take the CCSK, my next one will probably be CISA or CISM.

    I actually received the confirmation earlier from ISC2 to send my endorsement application. Good thing about the endorsement this time is that I only have to send my signed application because I am already a CISSP in good standing endorser approval is not required. Another added bonus I guess is that I can claim 40 CPEs towards the CISSP.
  • chickenlicken09chickenlicken09 Member Posts: 537 ■■■■□□□□□□
  • User2097User2097 Member Posts: 41 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Great write up... with the exam being so new.
    Cert Goals: CISSP-ISSAP (May 2016) | CISM (2016) | GSEC (2016) | OSCP (2017)
    College: MBA Project Management (2012) | Bachelors IT Management (2010)
    Experience: Cyber Security, Information Assurance, and IT Management Officer
  • chanakyajupudichanakyajupudi Member Posts: 712
    Congratulations!
    Work In Progress - RHCA [ ] Certified Cloud Security Professional [ ] GMON/GWAPT if Work Study is accepted [ ]
    http://adarsh.amazonwebservices.ninja


  • ccnpninjaccnpninja Member Posts: 1,010 ■■■□□□□□□□
  • bertiebbertieb Member Posts: 1,031 ■■■■■■□□□□
    Congrats on the pass! Thanks for the write-up.
    The trouble with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they are genuine - Abraham Lincoln
  • TheFORCETheFORCE Member Posts: 2,297 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Send my endorsement paperwork and my resume yesterday to ISC. Waiting for their reply of I need to submit any other paperwork. From what the instructions said if you are already a CISSP in good standing then you only need to send in the endorsement form.
  • jones551jones551 Member Posts: 154 ■■□□□□□□□□
  • TheFORCETheFORCE Member Posts: 2,297 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Just received email confirmation for my endorsement from ISC2. Paper cerification will arrive within 6-8 weeks.
  • chanakyajupudichanakyajupudi Member Posts: 712
    Cool! I have ordered the book three months ago now. Supposedly I can expect it to arrive in June 2016 in NZ!
    Work In Progress - RHCA [ ] Certified Cloud Security Professional [ ] GMON/GWAPT if Work Study is accepted [ ]
    http://adarsh.amazonwebservices.ninja


  • TheFORCETheFORCE Member Posts: 2,297 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Cool! I have ordered the book three months ago now. Supposedly I can expect it to arrive in June 2016 in NZ!

    You know the 2nd edition is coming out in May right? Where did you buy the book from?
  • chanakyajupudichanakyajupudi Member Posts: 712
    From Wiley, Australia.
    Work In Progress - RHCA [ ] Certified Cloud Security Professional [ ] GMON/GWAPT if Work Study is accepted [ ]
    http://adarsh.amazonwebservices.ninja


  • Mike7Mike7 Member Posts: 1,107 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Cool! I have ordered the book three months ago now. Supposedly I can expect it to arrive in June 2016 in NZ!
    I did the same last December. It was out of print and they cancelled the order after a month. I was charged $0.00; ie no money was deducted from my credit card
  • chanakyajupudichanakyajupudi Member Posts: 712
    Yep. Just found out they do not know when the reprint will be made available. I cancelled my order.

    I had to do it from Amazon.com for a few dollars more. But at least it will turn up sooner!
    Work In Progress - RHCA [ ] Certified Cloud Security Professional [ ] GMON/GWAPT if Work Study is accepted [ ]
    http://adarsh.amazonwebservices.ninja


  • rickberrrickberr Member Posts: 66 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Congratulations on the pass...will be taking this exam soon myself
  • Med2023Med2023 Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
    TheFORCE
    Someone on this thread/forum
    I work with SAP tech/admin and have so far no knowledge/experience with Infosec . Null-Zero
    Was wondering if i do the CBK, CSA guide ,ENISA, some NIST publications - Woudl i be

    a) allowed to write this exam in the first place - I never took any (IST)2 certs so not sure what kind of background checks they do
    b) will i be able to pass just by theoritical knowledge of the above material? I am (or atleast used to be) a pretty good memorizer.

    Thx
  • virtualizationGvirtualizationG Member Posts: 19 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Congrats on the pass. Going to try the exam myself before middle of May.
  • DharmarajaDharmaraja Member Posts: 7 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Also passed CCSP. The knowledge I got from CCSK does really help. And of course, experience as well :)
  • deuce22deuce22 Registered Users Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
    @ Dharmaraja Congrats!

    I am sitting for the exam on Monday 5/2. Any key tips / domains / materials you advise that I focus on during my final day of studying?

    Thanks for the guidance in advance!


  • RemedympRemedymp Member Posts: 834 ■■■■□□□□□□
    deuce22 wrote: »
    @ Dharmaraja Congrats!

    I am sitting for the exam on Monday 5/2. Any key tips / domains / materials you advise that I focus on during my final day of studying?

    Thanks for the guidance in advance!



    How did the exam go?
  • muthumanomuthumano Registered Users Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Hi Everyone, I am planning to prepare for CCSP, in Amazon I see two different books, kindly advice.


    1) CCSP (ISC)2 Certified Cloud Security Professional Official Study Guide 1st Edition by O'Hara (Author), Tom Rubendunst (Author)
    This title has not yet been released. Pre-Order only.


    2) The Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CCSP CBK 2nd Edition by Adam Gordon (Author)
  • TheFORCETheFORCE Member Posts: 2,297 ■■■■■■■■□□
    What advice are you looking for, what book to buy? Book #1 is not available yet so there will be no comments on how good the book is. All we can speak of is the Official ISC2 CCSP CBK, this is what i used to pass and actually it was the 1st edition, the 2nd edition might be even better. A lot of things depend on your experience or current knowledge in the cloud area.
  • SubwSubw Registered Users Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Hi TheForce,

    Firstly, congrats on your CCSP!

    I am thinking of doing CCSP by end of June. Is the CCSP CBK guide by ISC2 mentioned in your thread is the one authored by Adam Gordon? I could not find it in ISC2 site.
  • TheFORCETheFORCE Member Posts: 2,297 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Yes that is the one i used, by Adam Gordon.
  • Mike7Mike7 Member Posts: 1,107 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Subw wrote: »
    I am thinking of doing CCSP by end of June. Is the CCSP CBK guide by ISC2 mentioned in your thread is the one authored by Adam Gordon? I could not find it in ISC2 site.

    The 2nd edition is now available from Wiley: The Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CCSP CBK, 2nd Edition - Adam Gordon
    ISC2 members can check their member page for 50% discount code.
  • ChangelingChangeling Registered Users Posts: 4 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Just sat CCSP a couple of hours ago. Official courseware fell very short, but thankfully I passed thanks to my experience and other certs. As others have said, read the CSA guidance and NIST documents!

    Cheers,
    Changeling
  • gncsmithgncsmith Member Posts: 459 ■■■□□□□□□□
    Congrats to you both on the pass!
  • ChangelingChangeling Registered Users Posts: 4 ■□□□□□□□□□
    I received my confirmation email from ISC2 today, and now need to complete the endorsement form. I'm already a CISSP, so...

    1. Do I need to complete any role history - CISSP should meet the experience requirements?
    2. How do I fill in the endorser section - can I self-endorse, or do I need another CISSP holder?

    ?
    changeling
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