How Alice Cracked Her CISSP Exam

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2019-10-14

My CISSP journey...

I worked in IT security for about 6 years, but I worked in IT (including development) for more than 25 years. So 10 months ago, I thought the quick training camp would be the best way to pass the CISSP exam. Six days of pain, three hours and 149 hours and a half after the problem, I realized I was wrong.

In the next few weeks, I thought too much about the exam, but the first time I was beaten was too big to think about going back to the past so soon.

But, like any Rocky movie, this is a turning point. Mine came after Christmas. This is the time when you decided to submit and submit it fully.

My plan is to get as many resources as possible and filter them out (perhaps not the best, but useful to me):

- The official ISC2 student guide (from the 2018 course)-as my authoritative source. Itundefineds big, but I read it all the time.

- 11th-hour CISSP (top resource for 1-2 months out)

- Shon Harris CISSP videos (Excellent for listening to on the commute to and from work).

- Kelly Handerhan Cybrary videos (of course)

- SPOTO YouTube/Google (used to research any concepts I didn't understand)

I can’t emphasize how important it is to understand these concepts. I looked for all types of topics, such as different types of NAT, dedicated IP ranges, NIST documents, risk frameworks, and so on. All of this is on Youtube (although you sometimes encounter contradictions). If you can’t find a simple enough answer, publish questions in this group.

As I have experienced before, the exam is not just a book. I guess the answer to about 50% of the questions can’t be found directly in the learning materials that I use. Even when English is the mother tongue, when they start to be very difficult, I’m hard to understand the language used in the problem. I, therefore, recommend that you use the first language to take the exam.

So these were the questions I used:

- ISC2 practice questions from the Bootcamp

- CISSP Official (ISC)2 Practice Tests, 2nd edition

- SPOTO Practice Tests

I only used these questions once over (as well as the questions at the end of the chapters in the books). I used Thor’s questions and the CISSP official practice tests to test domain knowledge after I had revised a domain fully.

Luke’s tests were to practice the 3-hour exam sitting. These questions are what I would call easy to medium, to test the completeness of my domain knowledge. I used the tougher ISC2 practice questions to track how ready I was to take the test. In all of those questions, I scored between 70 and 85% (in the last 2 months).

Finally, I used SPOTO’s CISSP questions for the last month to test my ability to apply my knowledge. I needed a legitimate source to test at the level you will find on the exam's harder questions.

In the exam, I first write the checkpoint time, so I know how many questions you need to answer in order to keep the right status. That’s why I’ve been behind for 30 minutes. The first 30 questions are simple, and then quickly become very difficult until the problem 100 remains. One suggestion, if you still have 30-40 questions to be resolved, don’t worry. Prepare to go far away, and don’t expect the exam to end before the time.

In SPOTO’s WhatsApp study group we all come from different backgrounds. I’m married with three children and family life takes time, so I can’t lock myself away for 6 hours at a time. Study little and often if those are your circumstances. Also, give your family - and yourself - intermittent rewards. The CISSP is a serious exam, but it is only an exam. Don’t miss out too much on life during your studies; be disciplined and have fun as well.

I wish you success on your own journeys. God bless you all. if you have any questions, and you can join SPOTO's study group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/FwQuSIDASCd7DHTDdIIcSa SPOTO's professionals will resolve your questions in time. And you can contact SPOTO directly by clicking here: