How SPOTO Dennis Cracked His CISSP Exam

CCNA 200-301

CCNP Enterprise

CCNP Security

CCIE Enterprise Lab

CCIE Security Lab

CCNP Service Provider

CCNP Data Center

CCNP Collaboration

CCIE DC Lab

2019-10-18

I provisionally passed the CISSP certification exam on my first attempt!

Prepare for 2.5 months, with 6 years of information security and audit experience. So now is the time for me to give back to the community. Since April 2019-I signed up for the exam because of my motivation to study. Schedule the exam and start taking it.

Forums used:

Reddit cissp community - very motivating

Facebook cissp group - motivating and useful discussions on questions

SPOTO’s Study & Notes Theory website and telegram group - great explanations and videos. The group is active 24x7. I took a 3 months membership

ISC2 forum rsblade's questions and the breakdown was much needed

Resources used:

Sybex's eighth edition of the study Guide-10 eats this book! It’s very dry, so I often insert instrumental music to stay awake and take notes. I read the book twice and took notes the second time. Everything in the test comes from this book.

The 11th hour book-10 is the most suitable for the latest version. I suggest reading this book in advance, which is very useful for learning the four canons of ISC2 CISSP! YouTube CISSP IT SPOTO video-10 Colin knows about him. His classification will help you understand how / why to eliminate

Kelly Handerhan Cybrary free videos - 11/10 Loved her teaching style. Everything she speaks is Gold for the exam. Takes notes whenever she says *this is testable*

Larry Greenblatt course - $99 bucks was absolutely worth it. It’s a 5-day video course. Again, make notes whenever he says *very testable*

SPOTO exam-8/10 exercise is great, but it’s too technical for the test. The wording is very close to the real test-first, the most, the best, the least. Use these to learn the skills that are eliminated. Thor’s practice Questions-10/10 https://thorteaches.com/free-daily-cissp-questions/

Apps used:

SPOTO- Has the same questions as the real practice questions book but super handy and useful during the commute to work

CISM app by Unity - Super helpful for putting your managerial hat while answering questions

Reddit app - Keep this on your phone and bookmark the cissp community. Every time someone posts a passing story, they write what they used.

Pocketprep app - Useful for quick revisions on the concepts when you’re bored at work or are taking a break.

Videos/Tips for Winning

Larry’s why you will pass - https://youtu.be/eLYbFtS7G9E

Kelly’s why you will pass - https://youtu.be/-99b1YUFx0A

Art of elimination - https://youtu.be/b87yfzOwzxc

Don’t spend too much time remembering port numbers, protocols, or in-depth understanding of technical concepts. This is a management exam. A good understanding of the OSI model and processing steps. Use mnemonic characters to remember.

Everything suits you! Ask me to study for 2.5 months. Balancing busy work schedules and keeping pace with learning progress is challenging. be consistent from beginning to end。 Even a day’s rest can lead to disconnection. It is difficult to sacrifice a personal and social life, but use groups to maintain motivation. You’re not alone!

Day of the exam (Aug 16/2019) - I went all the way to 150 questions with 40 minutes left. So if you see yourself crossing 100, do not PANIC!

Do some deep breathing when you feel your brain is unable to process the question. And lastly, keep telling yourself that you got this after your mark each question. A positive mindset is key.

Thank you all! Couldn't do it without this group :) Feel free to reach out for any help.