1 month enough to study for CISSP?

My Security+ expires in May, I have been wanting my CISSP for a long time. If I pass it, I could use it to renew my Security+ so I figure that would be nice. I started studying last year then got a new job and didn't continue. I have the 11th hour CISSP 2E and have read it, I have the Shon Harrios AIO and read some of it, I did the CBT nuggets back then. I just ordered Eric Conrad's 3rd edition study guide.

I am planning on using these three books, Brainscape, Cybrary, and CCCure along with other random things I find. Have been working in IT for 12+ years have other certs but I know this one is hard. Do you guys think a month is enough time to prep for it realistically? I work full time and other life stuff so I don't have a ton of time to study.

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wayne_wonder

relegated wrote: »

My Security+ expires in May, I have been wanting my CISSP for a long time. If I pass it, I could use it to renew my Security+ so I figure that would be nice. I started studying last year then got a new job and didn't continue. I have the 11th hour CISSP 2E and have read it, I have the Shon Harrios AIO and read some of it, I did the CBT nuggets back then. I just ordered Eric Conrad's 3rd edition study guide.

I am planning on using these three books, Brainscape, Cybrary, and CCCure along with other random things I find. Have been working in IT for 12+ years have other certs but I know this one is hard. Do you guys think a month is enough time to prep for it realistically? I work full time and other life stuff so I don't have a ton of time to study.

Are you in a Info Sec job currently ? have you read the CBK and seen what's required? 1 month is possible if you know the stuff and have experience OR you're just good at taking exams I suppose

TheFORCE

Not possible if you are not working in some capacity in high level of InfoSec field where you have exposure to management related activities or experience.

kiki162

relegated wrote: »

Do you guys think a month is enough time to prep for it realistically? I work full time and other life stuff so I don't have a ton of time to study.

Noooooo. Give yourself a good 3-6 months.

For the Security+, try getting yourself some CPE's

https://certification.comptia.org/docs/default-source/downloadablefiles/comptia-continuing-education-activity-chart.pdf?sfvrsn=2

You can also look at getting the SSCP as well. That you could do in a shorter amount of time.

cyberguypr

I'm not saying it's impossible, but highly unlikely. Some people here have studied and passed in this time frame but IIRC they were Infosec veterans.

havoc64

I recommend the Sybex book over the others and I read them all...

If I were you, I'd schedule the test for 3 months from now, Study your butt off and then take the test. If you do the Cybrary.it videos you can count them for your Security+ CPE...two birds with one stone.

Good Luck

Mike7

From https://certification.comptia.org/continuing-education/renewothers/renewing-security, there are other certification options which may be easier depending on your experience. Perhaps CHFI? CEH?

Danielm7

Totally depends on your background. I didn't take nearly as long as many/most to study for it but I had a pretty well rounded background in a lot of the topics and was under a time crunch. As with every time we see this sort of question, "it depends". You might be an amazing test taker with a photographic memory and a great infosec management history. You might also have been doing the same helpdesk job for 12+ years and barely heard of any of the involved concepts. I imagine you're somewhere in the middle, but no one can tell you how long you need to study something to pass.

JoJoCal19

I did it with about a month or so of really solid study, using Eric Conrad's CISSP Study Guide and CISSP 11th Hour. I woke up early and studied 2 hours before work each day, and then within about two weeks of the exam I studied some at night too. Passed 1st attempt. At the time had 7 years of security experience. It will depend on how good you are with studying and how much time you have to dedicate in that 1 month of studying.

danny069

I would not risk $600 with only 1 month training for the CISSP. So far, 64.71% say no.

renacido

If you've done infosec full-time for the last 10 years or so and have experience as an infosec manager, sure.

renacido

A better poll would be, "How many years of full time infosec experience do you need to pass CISSP with <1mo of prep?"

I knocked it out in a week but again I'd been an infosec manager and had 14 years experience in infosec. A week should be plenty in that situation. Someone with 5 years on the job who's never managed or built an enterprise security program might be a ninja with Splunk or Wireshark or Kali but they'll need a lot more prep for the CISSP. It's a test for managers. Prep accordingly based on your level.

cbkihong

Well, if one chooses to read the CBK, you will likely need to spend 1.5 months on it alone even if you spend like 3+ hours on it every day (and maybe like 8 hours/day weekend). I tried that, and 1.5 months passed and frankly I ended up finishing like 90% of the text when the exam day came.

For the exam that I took, I agreed a month of prep would have been more than plenty, but maybe I was just being lucky nothing particularly tricky was asked from my perspective ...

Just because you can finish in a month doesn't mean you should. The study is to prep/reinforce you as a practitioner, and cramming for an exam pass is not the best attitude as an infosec professional, if the knowledge are not going to retain effectively. Of course, I wouldn't recall the minute details now that more than half a year has passed, so while I am busy collecting CPEs, I plan to review the materials again upon completion of my first anniversary. For me I consider the knowledge more important than the cert itself.

bpenn

If you pass the CISSP, why would you even want to maintain Security+? It can be done in one month, but not without considerable experience in Infosec (reiterating what has already been said). I have nearly 4 years in a hybrid system/infosec role and I needed nearly 4-5 months to feel confident to pass the exam.

relegated

I have been in a system administration role primarily though I would say I am comfortable with security, some topics more than others. I don't take tests well though and like I said I don't have a lot of time to study. The Security+ was the easiest test I can remember taking but I have failed the VCP and some Microsoft certs I assume the CISSP would be closer to the difficulty of the VCP/MCSE possibly harder?

Id like to maintain the Security+ just for the sake of having it, I know the CISSP would trump it.

I looked through the "I passed" threads and Eric Conrad's book was recommended but would you guys say Sybex is better or should I just get that one also?

As far as the CEU for my Security+ looks like I would get 15 for the CISSP through Cybrary, I could get 9 from work, and maybe another 7 from a conference I went to which would still leave me short 19 suggestions on the easiest way to get those remaining CEU over the next month?

cyberguypr

Plenty of ways to gather CPEs. Lookup up the "freebie CPEs" thread.