CISSP-ISSMP Preparation

[EIAKPKP452]

I have seen some great strategies and references discussed in this community and was hoping for your similar thoughts related to the CISSP-ISSMP certification. Materials seem to be a bit more limited, but there is also a fair amount of overlap in the domains with CISSP materials. 

I have been using the Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP-ISSMP and have enrolled in the official (ISC)2 ISSMP instructor-lead online training course.

What other resources have others pursuing this certification found useful? Have you identified any good practice tests? Thank you for anything you can share about your preparation efforts.

Adam

[narcling]

Adam, 

I am interested to know which Instructor lead training you are taking.  I am trying to find something like a boot camp for the ISSMP but so far have not found much.  I reached out to Training Camp, whom I used for my CISSP, but they are not doing any training for the ISSMP.

Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks,

Victor

[EIAKPKP452]

Hi Victor,

I took the ISC2 ISSMP Online Instructor Led NAR class last week and highly recommend that. It is online, but the class and instructor are engaging and helpful in learning the ISSMP domains. I did see some ISSMP practice exam apps in the Apple App Store, but not sure if those are any good. Has anyone tried them?

Best,

Adam

[Muckles]

I actually passed my ISSMP this morning. I used the CBK book. All I would say in terms of advice, is take the time to refresh yourself on CISSP in addition to whatever you do. I bought one of the apps from the Apple Store. I've got to be honest, I abadoned this because it was starting to affect my confidence. Having now done the exam, I think that was a good call. The questions is the app didn't seem consistent with what I experienced in the exam.

[EIAKPKP452]

Just passed my ISSMP this morning as well. Congrats Muckles! I too relied on the CBK and in particular the end of domain questions with the answers and explanations in the back of the book. The ISC2 instructor lead training was a huge help also. As part of the training you are provided flash cards and a practice test. Another helpful aspect of the training was the review and discussion of the NIST, ISO, and other standards. 

I actually downloaded an ISSMP exam prep app from the Apple App Store also and would agree with Muckles. There seems to be some re-use of questions from their CISSP offerings. I wouldn't say it wasn't helpful to review, but shouldn't be used as an indicator for exam readiness. 

Adam

[CISSPCAS]

Hi EIAKPKP452 and congrats,

I´m planning to take this exam too. I want to know if you just use the CISSP-ISSMP CBK for your preparation, I  have heard some bad comments about the CBK like the content isn´t good and have some mistakes. 

How was your experience and comments about it?

Regards,

[EIAKPKP452]

CISSPCAS,

I would say that if you are going to take the ISSMP exam you will need the official CBK. The content is mixed with some sections vaguely written and not always organized in a logical way. That being said, there is still good content in the CBK that will help you on the exam. Because of the nuanced nature of some of the content, quite a few of the questions appear to be misleading unless you fully understand the context. This may be a cause of some of the reviews claiming inaccuracy. For this reason a key benefit of the CBK are the end of section questions and practice tests to get a better handle on where more reading and context are needed. I found those to be the most useful practice questions available. As others have noted, you will want to review CISSP frameworks and concepts as well. I benefited from the ISC2 official ISSMP web-based instructor-lead training. The combination of the CBK and official training made me feel well prepared for the exam. Good luck!

Adam

[ByteSwap]

I passed this morning. 

I only used the ISSMP CBK as study material. I did notice a good bit of overlap between the relevant CISSP domains/CBK and the ISSMP material.

The following points helped me:

• Get comfortable with the question style/voice. (The practice questions at the end of each domain are a good example of this.) The questions and answers are written in a specific way, and as long as you understand what the question is asking for, you can use logic to deduce the correct answer.
• Read the questions literally and make no assumptions. If you read them too fast or "think you know" what the question is asking, it's easy to trip on your own feet.
• The CBK material is heavily steeped in orders / sequences of various processes and levels of effectiveness for a given control / mitigation. I drilled on these intensely.

I would note that the practice questions for the 4th domain (I have the 2nd edition CBK) seem to be written and/or answered incorrectly. I couldn't make heads or tails of many of them, even after careful review.

[EIAKPKP452]

Congrats Byteswap! Your guidance is spot on. Thank you for taking the time to share this post.

Adam

[flamingmeaux]

I took the (new) ISSMP test yesterday with additional domain (and no updated studying materials offered from ISC2).  I knew the CBK book back and forth and took a boot camp.  Fail.  I've already passed two ISC2 certs first time so I am really disappointed in ISC2 who, I believe, set me up for failure on this.  I hardly recognized any questions.  This was an act of futility.  A total waste of time I can recommend for no one until proper study materials are available. 

When a potential candidate asks if they will be able to pass the updated test without new study materials ISC2 states: 

(ISC)² exams are experience-based that include experience-based questions that cannot be learned by studying alone. If you already have the experience in the domains covered in CISSP-ISSMP and believe that you have sufficiently studied those domains, you should feel confident that you are qualified to take the new exam and pass it. (ISC)² cannot guarantee you will pass the exam.

Not in my experience.  They also state, "The Official (ISC)² CISSP-ISSMP Training Course (online self-paced) will be available May 15, 2018".  The official ISSMP ISC2 online training is still unavailable.  

ISC2 stresses ethics and diligence for its members, but I find them lacking in providing a fair, reasonable opportunity to pass their updated ISSMP test.  Would love to speak to someone who has taken, or better yet passed the new ISSMP.   I, of course, will  try to address my issue with ISC2 directly.