topic Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved! in CCSP Study Group

From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

akkem — Mon, 05 May 2025 21:26:49 GMT

Happy to share that today I’ve passed the CCSP exam!

My preparation was focused solely on the Sybex CCSP book and its practice tests. Due to a packed schedule, I didn’t have the chance to explore other resources. I had booked the exam quite a while ago and felt a bit nervous going in, as I didn’t prepare as thoroughly as I usually do.

That said, my 10+ years of hands-on experience in cloud security definitely helped me navigate the questions. With this milestone, I now hold both CISSP and CCSP certifications, and I’m setting my sights on the ISSAP next.

To anyone preparing: practical experience combined with focused study can go a long way.

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

nkeaton — Mon, 05 May 2025 22:48:40 GMT

@akkem Congratulations. At least with a CISSP, you won’t need endorsement, just to accept the code of ethics. I did it in the “wrong” order and had to be endorsed twice which was definitely not an issue, just a few more steps. I did read the Sybex book but relied more on resources from CSA. I took the CCSK about a month later. I thought would do it sooner, but I found needed the time to decompress out cybersecurity from my head as CSA assumes that already know that for their exam. It was an old goal which was only reason wanted it. I am hoping to earn a CCAK to round out my cloud certifications/certificates. Right now am studying more for architecture trying to maybe achieve the triple crown. Definitely my weakest discipline of the 3. Don’t forget to celebrate. It’s a big deal.

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

akkem — Tue, 06 May 2025 00:56:10 GMT

Thank you, @nkeaton, for sharing. Actually CCSK is on my radar, planning to take it in the coming months. Since you've certified both, I'd love to your feedback. How do compare terms of syllabus and focus area b/w these two certs? Do you think pursuing CCSK adds value for someone who is already CCSP certified?

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

ericgeater — Tue, 06 May 2025 13:09:55 GMT

Congrats! I also used the Sybex book (and practice tests) for CCSP last year. And I agree, the focused study was crucial for both exams.

How did you find the difficulty of the exam? In mine, I read each question very thoroughly, but it took nearly the entire allotted time to complete. I only had a couple of minutes left! Trading thoroughness for ensuring a good choice added a bit more pressure.

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

akkem — Tue, 06 May 2025 17:44:01 GMT

Thanks, @ericgeater
I found the CCSP covered fewer topics than the CISSP, but it still required careful reading and close attention to detail. I was fortunate to finish in about half the time, but that was mainly because I had already built a strong foundation in cloud security through my work and prior CISSP prep. Like you, I read each question carefully some were definitely tricky and required distinguishing between two very close options. I think the key was understanding the intent behind the question and applying cloud-specific context rather than just general security best practices.

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

solajide017 — Thu, 15 May 2025 02:09:06 GMT

Congratulation! I'm preparing for the CCSP exam in two weeks.

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

akkem — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 20:10:50 GMT

All the best for your exam!

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

nkeaton — Mon, 09 Jun 2025 13:38:12 GMT

@solajide017 It was not available when I took the exam, but I have been getting the book by Gwen Bettwy for our people studying for it. Our folks really like that is concise and pulls everything together. It was recommended by ISC2 was how I found it. I mostly used no cost materials from CSA and NIST for mine. Best wishes.

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

pgbiel — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 12:21:45 GMT

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your experience as I am also preparing for my exams very soon..

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

akkem — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 17:49:25 GMT

Thank you!
All the best for your exam.

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

Brackia_Jackson — Tue, 24 Jun 2025 13:15:29 GMT

I used https://goo.su/ZV7j3ys for my exam preparation, which made all the difference. The questions were well structured and aligned perfectly with the actual exam. I passed!

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

mrashid — Sun, 27 Jul 2025 17:04:12 GMT

Congratulations @akkem, that's a great achievement!

I also recently sat the test and didn’t mange to pass unfortunately 😕.
One thing I felt that contributed to this is not having done enough practice as the questions do appear somewhat tricky with very close answers. I also studied Sybex material you referenced and the ‘Official Practice Test- 3rd edition’ but found that it wasn't adequate! So I was looking for more practice materials and bumped into ISC2’s ‘Self Paced Adaptive Learning’ packages for $440. But having already spent quite a bit on the "exam peace of mind", it doesn’t feel like an attractive option to spend big sum! Any suggestions?

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

nkeaton — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 01:40:25 GMT

@mrashid We all learn differently. Oddly I did less practice questions for the CCSP than other exams. Do you feel like it was cybersecurity or cloud concepts and security that was tougher on the exam for you? If cybersecurity, I would read the Sybex CISSP study guide. I would at least review those topics that are in the CCSP exam outline. If cloud, I would recommend no cost materials from CSA (Cloud Security Alluance) and NIST’s SP 800-125 for a refresher on virtualization. Also it was not available when I took the exam, but I have been getting our folks Gwen Bettwy’s book. They really like it because is concise and to the point. That was definitely the hardest practice exam that you will ever attempt. Best wishes on the next one.

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

mrashid — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 10:28:44 GMT

thanks @nkeaton, really appreciate your input.

From the results feedback, the areas I seem to need to improve most are 'Legal Risk & Compliance' and 'Cloud Concepts Architecture & Design'. Being an individual with short attention span, I think I prefer the Q&A style material as they can keep me engaged better than plain old written or long dry video materials. Besides, I find that some learnings are only possible in those MCQ style practice tests, like analysing between very close options in a slightly twisted or trick question. I'm looking for these in Udemy at the moment and found one titled 'TOTAL: CCSP 2022 (Cloud Security) Practice Tests', although I'm not convinced the difficulty level or style of the questions resemble the real tests- so my hunt still continues 🙂. I'll update back here when I find something useful that worked for me. Many thanks.

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

SixtPathSage — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 14:44:41 GMT

Congratulations, currently studying for the CCSP and my exam is roughly in about a month from now

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

nkeaton — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 21:06:14 GMT

@SixtPathSage I mostly used no cost online resources from CSA (Cloud Security Alliance). They helped ISC2 develop the CCSP. Their resources concentrate on cloud concepts and security. It is assumed that know cybersecurity. I also used NIST documents which are also no cost online. They are older but still valid. If only read one of them, I would suggest SP 800-125 for a virtual environment refresher. Best wishes.

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

akkem — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 02:12:28 GMT

Wishing you the best on your exam!

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

SixtPathSage — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 10:40:22 GMT

thank you very much, I'm using the OSG and CCSP for dummies for preparation.

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

SixtPathSage — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 10:43:20 GMT

Thank you very much

Re: From CISSP to CCSP - Another Milestone Achieved!

nkeaton — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 18:50:38 GMT

@SixtPathSage I read the Sybex book as well. Ben Malisow was the author at that time. Last year we hired him to teach our folks for it. The book was fine, but I know that I passed because of the CSA and NIST materials. I passed my CCSK a month later which was a personal goal and a very long story. I am glad that I took it when was linear.