topic Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6? in Exam Preparation

ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

DMEdwards — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 09:46:45 GMT

I am a little confused by the official study materials for the ISSMP concentration. The official flash cards and the certification exam outline both list 6 domains, but the official CBK book only lists 5? I verified I have the second edition - bought just yesterday. Can anyone shed light on what I've done wrong?

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

Steve-Wilme — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 10:21:08 GMT

The official guide to the CBK from 2011 has only 5 domains:

Domain 1. Enterprise Wise Security management Practices
Domain 2. Enterprise Wide Systems Development Security
Domain 3. Overseeing Compliance of Security Operations
Domain 4. Understanding BCP, DRP, and CoOP
Domain 5. Law Investigation, Forensics and Ethics

The current ISSMP has 6:

Domain 1. Leadership and Business Management
Domain 2. Systems Lifecycle Management
Domain 3. Risk Management
Domain 4. Threat Intelligence and Incident Management
Domain 5. Contingency Management
Domain 6. Law, Ethics, and Security Compliance Management

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

DMEdwards — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 10:42:20 GMT

Hello Steve, thank you for taking the time to respond. I'm still confused, though, because the book I have is definitely the second edition, published in 2015. Also, here is the description from the Official (ISC)² website for self-study tools: https://www.isc2.org/Training/Self-Study-Resources

Official (ISC)² Guide to the ISSMP CBK, Second Edition

Supplying an authoritative review of key concepts and requirements, the Official (ISC)² Guide to the CISSP-ISSMP CBK, second edition is both up-to-date and relevant. This book provides a comprehensive review of the five domains in the ISSMP CBK: Security Leadership and Management, Security Lifecycle Management, Security Compliance Management, Contingency Management, and Law, Ethics and Incident Management.

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

dcontesti — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:16:22 GMT

@DMEdwards Found this:

https://www.isc2.org/-/media/ISC2/Certifications/Exam-Outlines/ISSMP-Exam-Outline-Effective-May-2018.ashx

It clearly states that there are six domains.

The site you are looking at has a copyright date of 2017, which means it may be outdated.

@AndreaMoore would you please have someone look into this and maybe have the pages updated?

@ToniHahn can you please clarify for us which is the correct number of domains for the ISSMP?

Regards

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

DMEdwards — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:20:26 GMT

I understand that there are lots of sources saying that there are 6 domains. I do not dispute that. I am trying to understand why the official book, which is the actual information I'm supposed to be studying, only lists 5 domains. I can't find any 3rd edition, but I'm having a hard time believing that the test would be updated to a new set of material without publishing that material.

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

ToniHahn — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:38:21 GMT

@DMEdwards - I am checking with our education department about the books. And the outline gets created first. When we publish it to the web, that is when education takes the info and tries to get authors or SMEs to update books. So yes, an exam can get updated without the book being updated.

@dcontesti - yes it is 6 domains and yes that is the current exam outline. You can always find the current one here.
https://www.isc2.org/Certifications/CISSP-Concentrations.

Click on the ISSMP and then click on "Get the CISSP-ISSMP outline.

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

dcontesti — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:38:40 GMT

This is why I asked Andrea and Toni to comment.

We have seen in the past where training material (text books) lags behind the actual exam, although 3 years does seem like a long time.

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

ToniHahn — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:40:02 GMT

And that is why I am checking in with the education department. We don't work with one another as we have to keep that "chinese firewall", so I don't want to give any false information.

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

DMEdwards — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 16:42:07 GMT

I really appreciate everyone's help on this. I finally have some time to devote to study for the first time in a couple of years, so I am probably a little too eager to get started. 🙂

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

ToniHahn — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 17:16:40 GMT

@DMEdwards - good luck. We do offer a list of the top 5 references used per domain (not in any particular order) for each certification to help candidates out

https://www.isc2.org/certifications/references#
click on CISSP-ISSMP

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

ToniHahn — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 11:49:41 GMT

I wanted to follow up as I heard from our education department:

The CBK is under development

(ISC)2 has also developed a Self-Paced course, which features:

· 180 Days of access to Official (ISC)² ISSMP content in the learning management system

· Flash cards

· Post-course assessment

· Journal reflection and journal entry learning activities

· Short Video Lessons

· Quizzes at the end of each Domain

The ISSMP concentration builds upon the CISSP credential and indicates mastery in the specialized area of management. Many people take the ISSMP certification exam years after they passed the CISSP exam. Due to this, (ISC)² is offering, at no additional cost, a refresher of the CISSP material that can help in preparing for the ISSMP. The CISSP Self-Paced Refresher materials are set up as a separate course, however you will have the same amount of time to access it as you do the ISSMP course.

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

DMEdwards — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 14:59:29 GMT

This is so helpful, thank you @ToniHahn!

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

Budoka — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 00:37:45 GMT

OK. I hate to be "that guy", and the effort you made and the reply is really appreciated, but that is basically a sales pitch for the ISC(2) course right? So basically the "current" CBK isn't "current", and a CBK for the new test is not available yet. Or am I misunderstanding? What exactly does this mean for those of us that have been studying for the ISSMP using 2nd Edition? I am not belittling the ISC(2) self-paced material. I am sure it has a lot of value but there are different types of "students". I am one who goes to the books and then takes the exam. Did the same with the CISSP. Is there an estimate of when the new CBK will be published?

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

ToniHahn — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 00:43:03 GMT

I was just relaying the information I received from our education department. I also gave the list of references that we give candidates in a previous reply. The exam is done separately from any educational content. When exams publishes the new exam outline to the public (our website) that is when education takes it and works on what they need to work on. Exams and education do not work together.

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

Budoka — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 02:27:24 GMT

Thanks. I appreciate the info. I’m still relatively new to the community so was unaware of how Education was structured.

I have been using the 2nd Edition to study for the exam so was concerned when reading this thread.

hopefully it won’t be drastically different.

best

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

ToniHahn — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 11:06:33 GMT

@Budoka no worries at all. Most members/candidates do not know that. We get SMEs for our item writing workshops that ask why the exam outline is different than the CBK. I explain how it works and everyone is always under the impression that the CBK is written and then the exam outline comes from that. So I don't mind explaining the process. I didn't know when I started working for (ISC)2. 😉
We have to keep it that way to keep our accreditation.

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

denbesten — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 15:26:17 GMT

@Budoka wrote:
hopefully it won’t be drastically different.

Historically, that has not been an issue. Changes tend to be incremental in nature, bringing the exam back inline with a slowly changing industry.

@ToniHahn wrote:
Exams and education do not work together. ... We have to keep it that way to keep our accreditation.

This might be a good topic for a FAQ, especially noting that the CISSP (and other (ISC)² accreditations) is a test of your industry knowledge and your experience applying it in a professional environment. Unlike college, it is not a "learning comprehension" test and it is not based off the training materials.

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

Steve-Wilme — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 16:01:09 GMT

My comment to the invigilator on completing the ISSMP exam was that it did seem strange that most of the answers were not in the CBK textbook, but in the references to external materials at the end of each chapter. You won't be able to learn that quantity of material by rote, but you can know it. So whilst not an incredibly difficult exam it does require that you've already absorbed the information in the references, which if you've been in infosec a number of years you probably will have.

Re: ISSMP Domains - 5 or 6?

Budoka — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 22:33:47 GMT

THAT is very good information to have. Thank you.