topic Re: Failed CCSP in Exams

Failed CCSP

CyberAF — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 19:28:02 GMT

Failed CCSP exam last week. I felt like the exam was not related to CCSP or the materials I had studied for over 4 months. I am a CyberSec with over 5 years now and 20 years in IT. the exam questions I read IMO was not related to any of the books I have read. I did not even understand most of the questions. Unclear questions. I read :

1) The Official (ISC)2 Guide to CCSP CBK

2) ISC2 CCSP Official Practice Tests-sybex

3) CCSP Official Study Guide

Took a number of online exams scoring 90% and above.

I mean I was ready and aimed to score high in the exam only to find out I FAILED! and $599 in the toilet!

How did you guys who pass studied and what materials you used??

Re: Failed CCSP

Radioteacher — Wed, 09 Sep 2020 21:43:51 GMT

CyberAF,

Failing a test is difficult but recoverable...trust me. I have been there before.

You do not state if this is your first (ISC)2 test or if you have other (ISC)2 certifications. The reason to know is that these tests are very different from any of the over 25 tests I have taken in my career.

Novell, IBM, Microsoft, Compaq, HP, VMWare and the Cloud Security Alliance all had very different tests that all had unique points of view.

The tests all have unique points of view of their slice of the industry. (ISC)2 takes that to a whole different level from my point of view. They throw you as a manager in the field and you have to think like a manager of the situation and not as an engineer. Like you I had the background as an engineer.

So if an answer to a question says to block the attack at the firewall with an ACL. That is an answer that I would be drawn to like a bee to pollen. It most likely be wrong as well.

WWaManagerDo? A manager might consult policies or procedures before acting. An engineer would want to find the right code and use only technical fixes.

The hardest part for me was what right answer do I pick?

Below are links to articles on studying for the CCSP. One I wrote a while back.

This document really helped me prepare for the test.
"One document that seems to stand out is "NIST Special Publication 800-146" while reading Chapter 4, I created scenario questions in my head and answered them."

https://community.isc2.org/t5/Exam-Preparation/CCSP-Test-Preperation-Passed/m-p/3502

https://community.isc2.org/t5/Exam-Preparation/Passed-the-CCSP-exam-my-recommendations/m-p/4090

Good studying!

Paul

Re: Failed CCSP

CyberAF — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 15:22:48 GMT

Paul thanks for the tips.

Re: Failed CCSP

Radioteacher — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 14:11:22 GMT

@CyberAF

Did you get a chance to take a look at NIST Special Publication 800-146" Chapter 4? If you did, what are your thoughts on the content?

Paul

Re: Failed CCSP

CyberAF — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 20:19:04 GMT

Paul, I have not read it yet. A quick scan it shows it dated in 2012.

https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/SP/nistspecialpublication800-146.pdf

I will spend the time to read it. Was there something specific that caught your attention that help us in the exam?

Re: Failed CCSP

owaisakhan — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 03:10:46 GMT

Absolutely same feeling, I failed the exam a day ago on 8th December 2020 😞

I actually passed my CISSP last year and just after a month or so of passing my CISSP I started preparing for CCSP exam, I was a bit on and off in my preparation but I was certainly updated with concepts. I used the exact same materials that you used for preparation along with CSA Security Guidance v4, and practiced almost over 4000 questionnaire including CCSP Official ISC2 Practice Tests, still what I understood from the exam, is that exam is no where close to the way course books have been written or any of the Practice tests that I took, (they are all generic and covering only concepts) instead it is more of Tactical knowledge and real life implementations, that is what I felt as almost all the questions I noticed required deep understanding of the specific domain along with some sort of hands on experience in that specific domain. Unlike CISSP, where thinking like a manager works for most of the time, it was quite opposite for CCSP, where a lot of technical understanding was required.
Anyhow, I will now be testing my knowledge with CCSK exam instead of attempting CCSP again, if that goes well, than CCSP next stop 🙂 But this time, I will try to speak to various people working in separate domains to to understand the concepts even better.

Re: Failed CCSP

owaisakhan — Wed, 09 Dec 2020 03:13:22 GMT

Just to add, my preparation material also included skimming through various NIST documents, not cover to cover actually.... such as 800-37, 800-40, 800-53, 800-145, 800-146

Re: Failed CCSP

CyberAF — Wed, 30 Dec 2020 19:33:26 GMT

failed it 2nd time. 12/29/2020

I honesty thought I did very well. I flagged 15 questions and changed about 5. It was easy to narrow the questions to the best two choices. To my surprise I get " We regret to inform you ..."

28 years IT experience.

8 Years Cloud and Federal Cloud One / IT Security / FEDRAMP/FISMA/Security Controls Assessment

SEC+ certified

AWS Cloud Arch Certified

I am going for a 3rd time and spend another $599. Wish me the best.

Then I will tackle CISSP.

Re: Failed CCSP

lazzarom — Sun, 21 Feb 2021 23:12:09 GMT

I feel the same. Studied a lot. Did all the books below. Graded on all tests ~90% and felt I was ready. To my surprise all 95% of the questions were new scenarios with not much option to eliminate a few. I also didn't have option to mark a question for later review?! I am puzzled how to prepare for next attempt if these below are not sufficient.

1) The Official (ISC)2 Guide to CCSP CBK

2) ISC2 CCSP Official Practice Tests-sybex

3) CCSP Official Study Guide

Re: Failed CCSP

bpdelacruz — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 11:21:58 GMT

@CyberAF, did you pass on the third try?

Re: Failed CCSP

CyberAF — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 14:54:37 GMT

I have not schedule it yet. I will sure let you know.

Re: Failed CCSP

lillyliu611 — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 06:50:03 GMT

I had similar feeling about the CCSP exam. I had passed CISSP at 1st attempt but failed at CCSP at 1st attempt. Will try to take the 2nd time by end of this year.

Re: Failed CCSP

CyberAF — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 16:36:01 GMT

Complete BS. I did buy one and not even close to the exam questions.

Sent from my iPhone

Re: Failed CCSP

tmekelburg1 — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 17:05:49 GMT

@CyberAF ? Did you try a 3rd attempt?

Re: Failed CCSP

CyberAF — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 17:16:01 GMT

Yes. Failed one domain all other were expert level.

Sent from my iPhone

Re: Failed CCSP

tmekelburg1 — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 20:02:38 GMT

That stinks! I can honestly say the CCSP was the hardest test I've ever taken but the materials listed in this thread are sufficient to passing though.

I only had about 4 years of experience in IT/Security at the time of passing and was an Associate until I had enough experience to get the full cert. IT/Security was my 3rd career lol. I point out the experience part as to not scare anyone away from attempting the test when they see people with 20-100 years of experience in IT not pass and continue to blame the study materials for not being sufficient. I wish you all the best on your 4th attempt or possibly move on to the CISSP next and circle back to the CCSP later.

Re: Failed CCSP

YesHeCan — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 18:09:29 GMT

I had a similar experience with the exam - I passed CISSP years ago, but the CCSP exam was a tough one for me. It felt like all the official (ISC) guides that I read weren't relevant and the over 3000 practice tests. The exam completely threw me off the wheels by like the 10th question. I plan to take the exam again, just to proof I can do it!

Re: Failed CCSP

CyberAF — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 15:11:28 GMT

I can see your posts

Re: Failed CCSP

CyberAF — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 15:12:41 GMT

I will plan to retake it. Not giving up. CISSP makes more sense to me.

Re: Failed CCSP

JRCISSP — Tue, 19 Jul 2022 15:23:45 GMT

Hello there. I have to admit, I feel much better after reading your posts and two attempts. Full disclosure: 25 year vet of IT, 10 years in some form of Cyber Security, 4 years a CISSP. I passed my CISSP exam on the first try with about two weeks of study. I busted my butt the first time for the CCSP and felt the same way as you: Passed the practice exams with %90 or better, understood the material as presented only to get "below proficiency" for most of the domains. I literally JUST failed again and I felt %100 more confident. I spent months reviewing and studying, purchased additional authorized study material, CCSP for dummies and the "All in One" exam guide. Felt awesome. Actually recognized many of the questions and truly thought I had it. Felt good. Same result.

I have seen others pass it on the first try and really need to know what materials that they are using, or what different methods other than the included tests and study material they may be using. I agree that there are many questions that are nothing like what's in the study material. I'm not talking about practice tests. I mean the actual text.

Maybe we can help each other. I'm looking forward to hearing about your third time.