OctalDump wrote: » Yeah, it's entirely possible that you will get a question that comes down to understanding what AH is or AH vs ESP or Transport mode vs Tunnel mode. So, this level of detail isn't necessarily overkill. But if you know everything at that level of detail, it will be a pretty easy exam, and you'd probably be not too far from being prepared for something harder. They do cover a lot of ground, so it can be tough if you have fairly narrow experience. You need a bit of Windows, Linux, Cisco along with general theory. You need some web, some understanding of common attack types and what they look like, some of that fun risk basic risk assessment stuff. Lots of little bits and pieces. The sims in the exam are relatively straight forward if you have the hands on experience, but they do cover a range of things. Also, the 2 'official' books aren't that great. Since they cover a lot of various topics, they do get some stuff wrong, or don't explain it as well as they could. I'd recommend reading another book as well (which goes to greater depth, but isn't as 'flawed'): Information Security the Complete Reference, 2nd edition My impression of the exam was that the pass mark was lower than I thought: I honestly was a little surprised I passed.