The Official (ISC)2 CISSP CBK study material

[Nande]

Hello.

I want to buy the official ISC2 CISSP CBK Reference book for a friend. I need to know the latest edition and the authors. I also want to know where to buy a hard copy.

Thank you.

 

[nkeaton]

@Nande You can buy books on Amazon. The official book is the Sybex one and will be whatever the latest publication date listed is. I have found that the AiO (All in One) has comparable results. It will probably say Shon Harris. Again the latest publication date is best. I used the former years ago, but many have successfully used the latter. I suggest picking one or the other. The book that helped me most was Luke Ahmed’s How to Think Like a Manager. It really helps frame the mindset needed to answer the questions correctly. Without researching I can’t give you the other information. Once we pass the exam, most of us don’t keep up with the latest study materials. If I was doing an acquisition for our folks, I would have to look them up too.

[riffjim4069]

The two best CISSP Study Guides IMO are: 

1. ISC2 CISSP Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide, 10th Edition, which is the Sybex book written by Mike Chapple et al.  This CISSP Study Guide is fully updated for the 2024 CISSP Body of Knowledge (CBK).  It's 1248-pages of goodness that can be purchased for around $52 at Amazon or, even better, $35 (soft cover) using your 50% ISC2 Membership Discount at Wiley. 
 
2. CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Ninth Edition by Fernando Maymi (Author), Shon Harris (Author), which is 1300 pages of goodness that can be purchased from Amazon for $31.50.  The only issue with this Study Guide is that it is fully updated for the 2021 CISSP Body of Knowledge (CBK) and not the 2024 update.  Honestly, the 2024 CBK updates were minor and cosmetic IMO (it's not going to impact how well you perform on the exam) but if you're wanting the latest and greatest than go with the Mike Chapple study guide. 
 
Both Study Guides are outstanding.  Personally, I slightly prefer the Shon Harris All-in-One, but the Mike Chapple Study Guide is equally great.  I purchased the All-in-One, Third Edition, back in 2005 shortly before I took my CISSP Written Exam (6-hours of fun with scantron test sheets, wearing-out pencils, and being escorted to and from the bathroom - yikes!).  Moreover, I met Shon Harris (she passed a few years ago) at a trade event later in my career, so you can understand my bias.  
 
Regardless, both are great and I purchased both books last year because my Third Edition (circa 2005) was a little long-in-the-tooth with a growing number of deprecated protocols and technologies.  I read both over the Summer and can't go wrong with either one. 
 
Cheers!

[nkeaton]

@riffjom4069 Nice writeup and agree. A couple of things though. Yes, study guides are the way to go. The CBK really isn’t for reading but is a good resource for difficult topics. Most people don’t use it. While I didn’t use the AiO, I feel like the people that I work with do equally well with either. Years ago I would’ve probably selected the AiO but as you said Shon’s name is on the book. She was a wonderful and bright woman. She has been gone for 11 years. So I take a little exception to that and used ISC2 resources instead.  I always recommend picking one or the other but not both.  Glad that it worked out for you.  The nice thing about CISSP resources is that even older ones cover most of the domains.