<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><span style="font-family: verdana,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="postbody">Hello all,
<br>
<br>
I am really happy to share that I have passed CISSP exam. I have
learned a lot during my discussions with other members so its my time
to give back to community & share knowledge. It took me 1 hour to
write this mail.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Brief Background: </span>
<br>6+ years of experience in IT & working on Security Consulting,
Penetration Testing, Ethical Hacking, Vulnerability assessment,
Security architecture, ISO27001 audits, IT Risk assessment, Forensics,
Cyber laws, Security advisories & Antivirus CERT.
<br>
Have 7 certifications (MCSA 2000, MCSA 2003, CCNA, CEH, ISO27001, etc etc)
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Material Read/Purchased:</span>
<br>
As a starter, I have gone though CISSP Exam Overview by Clement
<br>
(An excellent video for free of cost)
<br>
CISSP Official (ISC)2 Guide (Read 2 times)
<br>
CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide By Shon Harris (Read 3 times)
<br>
Information Security Management Handbook, 6th edition by Tipton and Krause (Its a huge online book, Used as reference)
<br>
Reference material & blog posts of Sir W. Hord Tipton
<br>
Reference material & blog posts of Sir Rob Slade
<br>
Request for Comments (RFC)
<br>
NIST Special Publication documents -
<br>
SP 800-30, SP 800-111, SP 800-113, SP 800-115, SP 800-107, SP 800-106, SP 800-100, SP 800-97
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Seminars:</span>
<br>I was not able to attend CBK review seminars due to financial
problem & no official sponsorship due to current economic
conditions. If you are <br>
fortunate enough for sponsorship from company or can afford on your own
then you can surely go with Official CBK Seminar from ISC2 / Seminar by
Shon Harris / Clement. It will provide great overview & refresh
your domains before exam.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Practice Questions:</span>
<br>I can not discuss anything on what exam had or might have. I
practiced with lots of sample questions (around 1500). One can also
purchase questions available like studISCope Self Assessment from ISC2.
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Study time:</span>
<br>
I had no time at all in office due to hectic work & projects. I
studied daily from 12 AM to 4 AM from past 6 months. Weekends around
8-9 hours.
<br>There is no replacement to hard work. You need to work real hard,
interact with people who are already certified, Clear concepts. <br>
<br>
Dumps !!! - Are you kidding ? I am yet to find a CISSP who tells me he
passed using dumps. I personally feel its total waste of time &
money hoping questions from dumps. <br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Exam Day: </span>
<br>
Got up at 5 AM, Reached exam venue at 7.30 AM. Had a good breakfast. I
saw lots of people doing last minute cramming, going through pages of <br>
various books. There was good arrangement made by MIEL e-Security. Good
& very helpful proctors. They thoroughly check your identity & <br>
dictionaries (if any). Hours passed by & you see people walking
out, smoking due to tension. I felt my mind will run out of strength in
4 hours. Its real tough to keep mind relaxed with needle of the clock
not relaxing. I am sure many CISSP will agree of having extreme
pressure on mind in last few hours. (Except few who can finish paper in
4-5 hours). Once exam was over my mind was totally tired &
exhausted.
<br>
<br>
If you think CISSP exam is tough then you are wrong, Its THE toughest among all. There are no shortcuts to pass the exam.
<br>
<br>According to me, CISSP exam needs perfect time management skills,
core technical skills starting from cryptography to physical security,
take best decisions under extreme pressure. <br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Its all about "Thinking right using right knowledge at the right time"</span>
<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Results:</span>
<br>
Here comes the longest waiting period of life. This is the period which
kills. Checking mails each & every hour. I tried my best not to
post if anyone got results who gave exam on the same date <img src="http://www.cccure.org/modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif" alt="Smile" border="0">.
At last, mail arrives from ISC2, took 10 minutes thinking of clicking
on it with heartbeats at highest rate. Just read Congratulations, You
have passed !!!! and almost cried. <br>
<br>
People might feel I am over enthusiastic but it feels too good when my months of late night preparations are paid off.
<br>
<br>
Thank you Clement, Nathalie and Alain for maintaining cccure with
amazing quality of material. Special thanks to each & everyone who cleared my doubts.
<br>
<br>
Thank you W. Hord Tipton & Shon Harris for writing excellent books.
<br>
<br>
I would not have gone ahead without support of my family for so many months.
<br>
<br>Thank you ISC, Its because of them I have learned so much in
security covering all major domains during my preparation which I would
not have <br>
learned even during my job. Hats off for maintaining top notch quality in certification.
<br>
<br>
I rate CISSP as toughest exam of my life in spite of having 7 certifications & It feels like holding Oscar in hand <img src="http://www.cccure.org/modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif" alt="Smile" border="0">
<br>
<br>
Hope people find my exam experience useful. My best wishes to everyone preparing for exam.</span></td></tr></table><br>