I am pleased to share that I cleared CCSP exam yesterday 26/06, must admit it was one of the toughest grueling experience focusing on exam for 4 hours. apart from technical capability this test your patience to sit & focus in one place for 4 hrs !! I finished the exam with 33 sec to spare had to rush in last question so that I don't run out of time.    My tip. - Know the domain and its content & concept well. - Go through the reference material latest twice. - Attempt domain wise test questions and work on week domains   Materials used - ISC2 official training & CCSP Official (ISC)2 Student Guide 5th Edition, 5th Edition (over to cover thorough read) -Official CCSP Study Guide- 4th Edition -Official CCSP Practice Test- 3rd Edition. -Prepare for the CCSP exam by Gwen Bettwy on Udemy -Cloud Guardian from Gwen Bettwy - last minute reading -NIST & ISO Documents -CSA Security Guidance   Cheers SJ   View More

Hi,    Since CCSP is a vendor agnostic exam, do we still need to memorize the names of vendor specific services and functions that are mentioned throughout the study guide?  View More

Passed the exam today. Resources that I referred to for the past 2 weeks before covering the whole syllabus for the final lap were,    I passed my exam today. Besides covering the whole syllabus over time, my last 2 weeks covered below resources,   Listened to all the topics back from  Get Certified Together  Read CCSP for Dummies - After each domain, I solved questions from the CCSP Certified Cloud Security Professional Official Practice Test for that domain. It helps in revising concepts nicely. Read CCSP (ISC)2 Certified Cloud Security Professional Official Study Guide - This was a thorough reading. I tried to not go deep in detail on each section but the way it's written, I get another revision of all topics from different points of view. Finally did practice exams, a Set of 3 from Udemy, I would have given you the link but honestly exam was far harder, and the questions covered are different so don't bother. Bought a practice exam from the pass exam hub, which will say the same thing as above but it was good to come in an exam mood.  Finally kept best for last, Two full practice exams from the CCSP Certified Cloud Security Professional Official Practice Test just in the morning of the exam. They were tricky good scenario-based questions.   View More

I have provisionally passed the CCSP exam and speaking as someone who has extensive Cloud and security experience, it is not an easy exam.    While it's still all fresh in my mind, here is some advice I have for anyone preparing to take the exam: - Have a deep understanding of the material. Simply knowing what something is or what it does is not enough, you have to be able to think critically in answering some of the questions.  - Read and understand the questions. Context is everything, and one word or phrase could make all the difference to what the answer is.  - Manage your time. Don't fall too far behind when it comes to your timing. The exam does not get easier as you go so you need to ensure you're not digging a hole for yourself too early.   I'll add a little more depth to this post when I've had time to reflect. Best wishes! View More

Before you start looking for a tissue to hand me because you think I need to wipe tears away, think again.  Failing twice stinks!  That's it.  I'm over it.   If you are going to pursue this certification, the first thing you are going to find out is IT'S HARD!    English isn't my first language and I remember sitting in my U.S. Citizenship interview pointing out the grammatical errors on the English test they were giving me.  Definitely had a couple of those situations today that I had to get past.  I say "1 and 1 = 2" while other English speaking countries say "1 +1 = 2".  Had a few of those types of questions today.     Here is my advice, so fasten your seat belt!   When looking at training options, evaluate carefully!   1. If its free (youtube), I usually can't afford it.  I found a free course from a person that works at a Regional bank.  Nice looking documents, but some errors in the videos and the documents that are very distracting.  Be careful with free.   2. If you subscribe to a course and in one of the early video's the person spend several minutes telling you about a beverage they drink every night and that you may hear them opening a can of it, well, probably best to do what I did and cancel the subscription.  At one point, I pointed out a very wrong statement in their material.  Although the author seemed to agree, they brushed me off and stated if a few more people pointed it out, they would consider making a change.   3.  Do you use Udemy?  There is an older course there that covers "what you need to know" and you can get  the new course from that person's website.  Spoiler alert:  what I did the worst on in both CCSP attempts is not covered in that course.  At least 3 sections of the Exam Outline on ISC2 list the missing materials as being testable.   4.  When you find a course, paid or free, look at some of the other courses from that person.  How many courses do the have?  What are they certified in?  I usually listen to the first hour or so of the other courses and if they tell me that passed CISSP (or anything else) back when it was all done on paper and you had to wait for the grade, that's a complete give away that they haven't sat for the test recently.  As for me, anyone remember Novell?  I was one of the first 1,000 CNE's ever certified, so I have taken a cert test or two.   I get that there is a huge bank of questions from which only 125 are selected, but I promise, my two tests were as different as night and day.  I can't point to one set of materials that have made me successful, because I haven't been successful.  Personally, I am a hardware/admin kind of guy and have done very little programming (see Domain 4, section 4.2, 4.3 etc.), but a lot of security.  Maybe that's where I am tripping.  I'm a big boy, I'll dust myself off and try the test again at some point in the future.   If you read this far, then go here:  https://www.isc2.org/certifications/ccsp/ccsp-certification-exam-outline   Read it closely, start over at the top of my email, read the exam outline again, and then figure out the best approach/materials for you!   Recently, I attended a webinar where the presenter stated that the test writers, the study materials and the actual test are not aligned and may not be communicating that well; I agree.  They also pointed out that this is not an R & R (read and regurgitate) test which is what you are used to from the academic world.  This certification is about learning how to apply a massive amount of concepts and a handful of definitions.   Those are my thoughts and my opinions, I welcome yours. View More