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Djblevins
Newcomer II

Resources used for CISSP Exam

A co-worker asked me yesterday what resources I had used to prepare for the CISSP exam.  A colleague of his from a previous position is considering preparing for the CISSP exam and asked what to use to prepare.  My co-worker received the CISSP several years ago and thought I might have information on more up-to-date resources since I just passed the exam on March 3, 2018.  Here is the list I put together for him.  I thought it might benefit or be of interest to some of the people reading the board.

 

You asked about resources I used to prepare for the CISSP exam.  Here are most of the resources I used.  90% of my time was spent with the Shon Harris books that are in bold below. 

 

I also took notes by typing flash cards as I went through the material and ended up with, I believe, over 1,000 flashcards.  I typically did not go back and practice with the flash cards but the act of typing out questions and answers was enough to commit to memory for me.

 

I passed my test on March 3rd .

 

Skillport

CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, 7th Edition by Shon Harris/Fernando Maymi

CISSP Practice Exams, Fourth Edition by Shon Harris/Fernando Maymi

CISSP Study Guide, Third Edition by Eric Conrad, Seth Misenar, Joshua Feldman

CISSP Official (ISC)2 Practice Tests by Mike Chapple, David Seidl

 

Cybrary

ISC2 CISSP video lectures by Kelly Handerhan

 

YouTube

Various videos selected on topics for additional clarification – especially cryptography

9 Replies
Aj19
Reader I

Thanks for details.

 

Now as pattern is changed so if you can suggest anything additional.

DaveTheITGuy
Newcomer I

The Cybrary.it site with the CISSP videos and extra resources is pretty awesome. Watching their videos and using their stuff has been on topic, even with the new formats. Also, even though the format has changed, the information does not. If you know the topics, then you know them. There is no substitute for actual hands on knowledge and having the 5+ yrs of real world experience. 

David Howard, CISSP, C|EH, MCSE
www.bringyourownsecurity.net
@dtigcincy
rslade
Influencer II

I used to recommend any editions you could find of the "Information Security Management Handbook."  If you can still find any (mostly in the better company libraries) they are great.

Best single volume source is "Security Engineering," by Ross Anderson.

Check out http://victoria.tc.ca/int-grps/books/techrev/mnbksccd.htm


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dhibbing
Viewer II

A co worker of mine was told mostly essay now. Is that correct? I had heard they had moved the tests online and used an adaptive  scoring model, but nothing about an essay format.

Djblevins
Newcomer II

No essays on my exam in March.

Sent from my iPhone
denbesten
Community Champion

Essay or Scenario based?  Even when I took it on paper, it included Scenarios (a little story that then had 2-5 multiple choice questions related to the story).  Computerized adaptive testing is not very compatible with essay (short answers -- 1 to 5 sentences)  due to the need for real-time determination of an answer's correctness.

DanielJMurray
Newcomer I

I also found the 11th Hour CISSP Study Guide by Conrad was a huge help. It mostly works as a reminder and focuses the learning material into a quick guide to read over the day before the test.

nancy_perez
Newcomer II

The CISSP exam contains a minimum of 100 questions and a maximum of 150 questions. Candidates have three hours to complete the exam. (ISC)2 uses an advanced testing system called Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT).

rslade
Influencer II

> nancy_perez (Newcomer I) posted a new reply in Certifications on 08-16-2018

> The CISSP exam contains a minimum of 100 questions and a maximum of 150
> questions. Candidates have three hours to complete the exam. (ISC)2 uses an
> advanced testing system called Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT).

Since this is at least the third time she's used exactly the same text to reply to a
variety of postings, at this point I'm pretty sure Nancy is a bot ...

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global economy needs and which Canada can readily provide.
Canada has grain; Canada has metals and minerals; Canada has
abundant energy; Canada has port facilities and a productive,
cosmopolitan work force; Canada has water and, perhaps most
importantly of all, Canada has the rule of law where contracts
actually are abided by and where lawyers are not drawn into cases
until they are actually needed. Perhaps most interestingly,
Canadians don't see their own strengths. - Dennis Gartman
victoria.tc.ca/techrev/rms.htm http://www.infosecbc.org/links
http://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/author/p1/
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Other posts: https://community.isc2.org/t5/forums/recentpostspage/user-id/1324864413

This message may or may not be governed by the terms of
http://www.noticebored.com/html/cisspforumfaq.html#Friday or
https://blogs.securiteam.com/index.php/archives/1468