UnixGuy's CISSP journey

I finally decided to start studying for the CISSP exam. I will keep a journal of my progress in this thread.

I got Shon Harris All-in-one 5th edition, and I started reading yesterday.

What's next? Share your recommendations.

I'd like to do practice tests at the end of each chapter, so what practice questions do you recommend the most? (I know this has been asked before, but I'd like to get more ideas, specially from those who passed the exam recently).

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Comments

N2IT

No recommendations, just support and good wishes!

paul78

My 2 cents - get the ISC2 CBK and review it as part of your studies.

Also - don't forget that the ISC2 CBK was updated for 2012.

Good luck.

JDMurray

And read my TE blog articles about the CISSP journey.

Good luck!

afcyung

I think NIST does a great job of putting out information so I will suggest reading SP 800-30 Risk Management.

http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-30/sp800-30.pdf

I hated reading the AIO so I did CBTs from IT E-learning, as a gov employee its free for me, but it might be worth looking into.

UnixGuy

Thank you guys!

JD - I followed your SSCP-CISSP journey and read the blog posts, good job

Paul & afcyung - I'm thinking of reading Shon Harris book and do the practice tests in cccure.org and freepracticetests, and then start with other material, what do you think?

ChooseLife

Best of luck on the journey! Do you have a certain time frame set for this?

YuckTheFankees

I'm interested in your time frame as well..

afcyung

UnixGuy wrote: »

Thank you guys!

JD - I followed your SSCP-CISSP journey and read the blog posts, good job

Paul & afcyung - I'm thinking of reading Shon Harris book and do the practice tests in cccure.org and freepracticetests, and then start with other material, what do you think?

If you can stomach the IAO then that should be a sufficient way to learn the material. I couldn't stand the way the IAO was written and thus after about 150 pages of like 1400 I decided I wasn't retaining anything. The book itself is IMO to large to be carried around. I decided CBTs where what I needed. Could be partially related to my learning style. I am more of a Tactile learner so CBTs were closer to a hands on experience, although I do enjoy the current CCNA books from Odem.

Its all about how the material is presented and I just didn't enjoy the IAO.

paul78

UnixGuy wrote: »

Paul & afcyung - I'm thinking of reading Shon Harris book and do the practice tests in cccure.org and freepracticetests, and then start with other material, what do you think?

I've heard good things about the Shon Harris book, I have a first edition but I didn't actually read the whole thing beyond the first few pages. I actually ended up opting to spend some money on the SANS virtual on-demand training - which in retropect was not worth the investment - but still a great course.

I didn't actually do any practice tests other then buying 2 books - 1 from SSI Logic called "CISSP Exam Prep Questions, Answers" and the Shon Harris Practice questions book . I selected the books based on amazon.com reviews. And I actually liked both a lot.

I also got the Kindle version of the ISC2 CBK. This was my primary study book.

jennt721

I used the CISSP for Dummies and the Eleventh Hour. They were both really good and I also used the cccure.org practice tests.

UnixGuy

ChooseLife wrote: »

Best of luck on the journey! Do you have a certain time frame set for this?

YuckTheFankees wrote: »

I'm interested in your time frame as well..

I don't really have a time frame, but I don't want to spend a lot of time on this cert. Hopefully before September..

UnixGuy

afcyung wrote: »

If you can stomach the IAO then that should be a sufficient way to learn the material. I couldn't stand the way the IAO was written and thus after about 150 pages of like 1400 I decided I wasn't retaining anything. The book itself is IMO to large to be carried around. I decided CBTs where what I needed. Could be partially related to my learning style. I am more of a Tactile learner so CBTs were closer to a hands on experience, although I do enjoy the current CCNA books from Odem.

Its all about how the material is presented and I just didn't enjoy the IAO.

I noticed that retaining information from Shon Harris is not easy, let's see how things go when I do the practice tests!

UnixGuy

jennt721 wrote: »

I used the CISSP for Dummies and the Eleventh Hour. They were both really good and I also used the cccure.org practice tests.

Interesting! I'll check then out!

Thanks

beads

UnixGuy;

Keep in mind that every author is going to have their own unique view as to what the exam (any exam for that matter) is going to be about. Some people swear by Shon Harris others prefer Eric Conrad or Hal Tipton. Personally, I like to look through a few different viewpoints and get a larger picture through many lens. Same for quiz books. Some think that they are a waste of time others love them. Its all a matter of finding what sticks in your head, so the journey can be a lonely one.

Good luck and let us know how you progress.

- beads

onesaint

For the CCNA (a totally different study, I realize) the Boson exam sim software was second to none. I wonder if it's the same for the CISSP? The only caveat is that its $99.00.

CISSP Certification | Practice Exams & Training

I hope your studies yield good results.

UnixGuy

beads wrote: »

UnixGuy;

Keep in mind that every author is going to have their own unique view as to what the exam (any exam for that matter) is going to be about. Some people swear by Shon Harris others prefer Eric Conrad or Hal Tipton. Personally, I like to look through a few different viewpoints and get a larger picture through many lens. Same for quiz books. Some think that they are a waste of time others love them. Its all a matter of finding what sticks in your head, so the journey can be a lonely one.

Good luck and let us know how you progress.

- beads

Good point. I think no matter what book I read, I will keep on forgetting what I read, unless I do a lot of practice questions. So I'd rather read quickly and start with practice exams

UnixGuy

onesaint wrote: »

For the CCNA (a totally different study, I realize) the Boson exam sim software was second to none. I wonder if it's the same for the CISSP? The only caveat is that its $99.00.

CISSP Certification | Practice Exams & Training

I hope your studies yield good results.

I don't know about Boson. I will start with cccure

UnixGuy

How's the Sybex book? worth reading? I don't trust Amazon reviews but I see some positive reviews:

Amazon.com: CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional Study Guide (9780470944981): James M. Stewart, Ed Tittel, Mike Chapple: Books

UnixGuy

UPDATE: I haven't been studying at all. My thoughts are somewhere else, and I contemplated dropping my CISSP plans.. I didn't make up my mind yet.

Essendon

So which cert would you go after then? Or are you considering a degree?

UnixGuy

Essendon wrote: »

So which cert would you go after then? Or are you considering a degree?

I'm starting a degree on September 2012, I will write a separate post for that.

I don't know..I'm going extremely slow, like half an hour every 3 days or so. I remember I did the same with security+. I think I'm not motivated enough, however, I hate to start something and not finish it. We'll see..

Paperlantern

I find I have to set a hard deadline, usually by scheduling the exam, to get myself to really knock through it. I have picked a date (June 30) though haven't scheduled it yet as that is a process that goes through my work. Maybe scheduling it would help.

UnixGuy

Paperlantern wrote: »

I find I have to set a hard deadline, usually by scheduling the exam, to get myself to really knock through it. I have picked a date (June 30) though haven't scheduled it yet as that is a process that goes through my work. Maybe scheduling it would help.

I sometimes do that, but I don't think It's a good idea now because I'm really not prepared. I think in the next few days I'll push myself to study

N2IT

Unix chiming in!

Don't feel bad I had to drop the PMP. I did do the CAPM since I had several months of study, but still.....

Once my boss basically told me the clients were dragging their feet for the windows 7 deployment I found another job not related to IT project management.

We all have our reasons whatever you end up doing you will do well.

UnixGuy

N2IT wrote: »

Unix chiming in!

Don't feel bad I had to drop the PMP. I did do the CAPM since I had several months of study, but still.....

Once my boss basically told me the clients were dragging their feet for the windows 7 deployment I found another job not related to IT project management.

We all have our reasons whatever you end up doing you will do well.

Thanks man

I started watching the CBTs, so far they're much better than the book! I didn't give up on CISSP yet. I'll take it slowly for now