Passed CCSP Exam - My Experience

[Masahiro]

I (provisionally) passed the CCSP exam today. Good luck to the next one!

Related Certifications

• Dec-2019: Certificated as CISSP (attended official training）
• Dec-2019: Certificated as CCSK by CSA (attended official training）

Relevant Work Experience

• Developed security guidelines for AWS, Azure and GCP users based on CIS Benchmarks
• Developed security guidelines for users of cloud services based on CIS Controls and ISO/IEC 27017
• Support for CASB demonstration experiments
• Support for defining digital workplace requirements (zero-trust security)

Motivation for taking CCSP exam

• To provide an opportunity to relearn cloud security experience in a systematic and comprehensive way
• To be a pioneer since there is probably no one in our company who has taken CCSP

Study period and time

• Period: July 4, 2021 - October 5, 2021
• Daily time: 1 to 2 hours/day
• Total time: about 140 hours

Materials used

1. CCSP Official Practice Tests Online Test Bank (Chapter 1 - 6)
2. Textbook of CCSK Plus (CCSK official training)
3. CSA Guidance V4.0
4. CCSP For Dummies with Online Practice (Kindle version)

Collaborators

1. Japan Chapter's Cloud Security Study WG members
2. Several people who replied to my questions in (ISC)2 Community
3. Experts in my company

Study procedure

1. Each day, I solved 20 questions of the material #1
2. First, I focused on extracting questions that I got wrong, and ones that I got right but wasn't confident about (setting flags).
3. Next, I re-solved the questions I got wrong, flagged the questions I got right but wasn't sure about, and repeated until I got all the questions right.
4. Then, as I solved the flagged questions, I removed the flags from the questions that I got wrong and the ones that I answered correctly and with confidence.
5. Finally, I repeated steps 3 and 4 until I answered all the questions correctly and the flags were removed.

Mindset

1. When I am in a questions-setting situation in the consulting field, I ask myself if I can accurately give correct advice to my client with reasons.
2. First of all, try to clear my doubts by using the materials and the Internet.
3. If I still have questions, ask them first to the WG, then to the experts or to (ISC)2 Community, and leave no question unclear.

Thoughts on the exam

1. I left about 40 minutes after finishing the exam and felt it was easy to finish the exam in 180 minutes.
2. There were many unfamiliar words and questions that I had never seen before, but I think I was able to cope with them because I had a deep understanding of each question in CCSP Official Practice Tests.
3. I was a little worried that I had not read through CCSP reference books such as the material #4, but it was not a problem.
4. As expected, I feel that I was able to organize, cover, and strengthen my knowledge of cloud security.

[MattDH]

I recently passed the exam. Here is what I recommend.

ISC2 Official Study guide 2nd Edition
CCSP All in One
CCSP for Dummies
CCSP Cloud Guardian (Gwen Bettwy)
CSA Guidance v4
https://ccsp.alukos.com

You need more than the ISC2 materials to pass this exam.

[ccboy981]

@MattDH 

I concur with this post. I used all of those resources except CCSP All in one.

I also reviewed the GISSP academy CCSP videos on youtube. The instructor is very good with his training videos. I recommend watching all of them.

https://www.youtube.com/c/GISPPACADEMY/videos

[Wandesure]

Please don't despair, give it a shot again. I passed mine on January 5 , I was surprised  though, the exam almost blew me away.

1.You have got to  relax  during this test, trust me you know it.You simply have to start the process of elimination.

2.Take note of all key words,in  each question.

3. Think like a manager,that is confronted with issue and  looking for the best solution out of the  available options.

4.Read those questions  again and again  before you make a choice, never  be over confident to make a quick choice, a key  word in the question my not align with the answer in your mind.

5.Don't believe all those so called dumps( they will make you look dump in the exam), but you can practice with  ISC2 official practice tests by Ben Malison, second edition.This will only help give  the idea of how the questions are worded and a flavour of what to expect.

6. You need to understand the concept in each domain, that was my saving grace, I was literally translating  those concepts  and it was helping me to make  a better choice.

In terms of what to read, I know there are various books and advice out there... pick one or two books and supplement with other articles to gain more understanding.I'm not sure there  is any silver bullet other than to understand  the domains and how to apply them.

I'm a CISSP since 2008, but I  think this exam is challenging, it's a different animal.Funny, but  it looks like test of English to me as  well .. lol .You have got to decouple the phrases and check if  last sentence is related to the former sentences or phrases.

I wish you the best in the next attempt, Get your 90 days goals ready and kill the beast.

[csjohnng]

@naiduchr 

I am sorry to hear that.

Well, I think there are already advices, book and materials mentioned.. etc., so I am not going to repeat.

One feels bad in failing exam, yes it's bad I understand, and it's what it's now.

But 1 important thing we need is to learn from the failure, this will make your failure worth failing and contribute to your next success and pass the exam.

So understanding your weakness, why fail ? are you not knowledgable enough? do you know the material well? or you are just too nervous during the test or it's just bad luck?

By realising the cause will definitely help you to move forward.

All I can say is take good rest 1-2 days before of the exam, have good sleep, relax, clear your mind, read carefully the question during the exam, watch your time, set your good pace.

Good luck to your coming preparation and exam.

[RowRocket]

Hi, I'm sorry you didn't pass. I've heard that the CCSP doesn't have a high pass rate. I haven't taken mine yet.

I don't think there is any sure-fire way to "ace" the test. To help answer your questions, I'd like to know which resources you used to study. Would you share what you purchased? A person on r/cspp provides a great list of resources. This list is at https://prabhnair.in/2020/12/27/ccspstudyguideprabh/ 

[naiduchr]

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions and references. Do I have create a new thread to find study buddies for this exam ?

[spamariner]

Hi Masahiro,

Can you please guide me where to get access to practice tests online test bank. I have enrolled for self-paced learning package of CISSP but can't find access to the test bank.

Regards

[AndreaMoore]

@naiduchr That might be a good idea. Create a post and include info like when you're planning to take exam and if you are looking study buddies in a particular location/virtual, etc. 

[safe_secs]

Wonderful article, Masahiro. Detailing your thought process is a great way for others to extract some possible pain points in their (our) own mind. Congratulations on your success!

[tsirgogik]

Hello everyone,

I provisionally passed my CCSP exam today and wanted to share my accomplishment with the community. I'm already CISSP certified since 2019 and I achieved another goal today.

I'd like to encourage everyone who's i' the CCSP certification journey. Good luck to everyone preparing out there