There are a lot of security certifications in the IT sector. But only some of them are very prestigious and popular. Perhaps the most known and most respected security certificate is Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP) certification. In this post we will get generally information about certification steps, topics, price etc.

Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)

CISSP exam is governed by ISC. ISC is global non-profit organization. ISC is operated by board of directors those elected  from certified practitioners. ISC also provides other security related certification programs like

• CSSLP
• CCFP
• HCISPP
• CCSP

Topical Domains

Every certification have specific or general topic range. In CISSP this is called Topical Domain or Domain . There are eight domains those are listed below.

• Security and Risk Management
• Asset Security
• Security Engineering
• Communication and Network Security
• Identity and Access Management
• Security Assessment and Testing
• Security Operations
• Software Development Security

All of these domains are vendor independent and discuss best practices about topics. CISSP preparation books generally provides individual chapters for each domain.

Prequalification

In order to qualify the certification there are some prequalification. ISC asks for the following requirements before certifying professionals those have passed the exam.

• 5 year experience as practising security professional full-time and paid
• Professional security experience at least in two domain of eight domains
• Agreement Code of Ethics

CISSP Exam

One of the most popular saying about CISSP exam is “CISSP is wide as an ocean but thick only one inch” . What this means? The topics ranges are huge. We can understand this from Domain names. It provides networking to application development, risk management to identification. But the subjects are not technical. They provides best practices.

CISSP exam has 250 questions  and we have 6 hours to complete the exam. Most common method take exam is Computer Based Test or CBT  but in some situations it can be taken as Paper Based Test or PBT .

CBT is multiple-choice which have four option in each question. The questions do not asks for the exact right answer. We should select best response. There may be some drag and drop or hotspots questions too.

CISSP Exam registration can be done from Pearson-Vue from following link.

www.pearsonvue.com/isc2

We will just have less than 90 seconds for each question. So we should a bit fast while answering them.

Tips

• Study
  • Decide your english level before registering exam
  • Solve a lot of example exams
  • Use flash cards
• Before Exam
  • Bring food and drink test side
  • Bring medication and pills
  • Leave electronic devices in home or car
  • Wear simple watch not an programmable or networked
  • Wear comfortable
  • Wear light jacket because some test locations are a bit chilly
• During Exam
  • Answer easy question first
  • Skip harder questions
  • Use CBT  bookmarks for skipping
  • Eliminate wrong answers first
  • Watch double negatives
  • Understand question and look specific words

Completing Certification Process

After passing exam with required score the final step is named Endorsement . In this step we should find a ISC certified professional which will generally CISSP certified professional and submit and endorsement on our behalf. The endorser must review our resume and send digitally or via fax or post mail by signing endorsement document. We should submit endorsement within 90 days after receiving confirmation of exam pass email.

If we failed the exam we should wait for 30 days after failed exam to take again.