Put Yourself to the Test

In this section, you answer some simple questions. The objective is for you to understand exactly how much work and effort you must invest to pass the CISSP certification exam. The simple answer to this question is this: The experience and education you have will dictate how difficult it will be for you to pass. Be honest in your answers, or you will end up wasting $500 or more on an exam you were not ready to take. From the beginning, two things should be clear:

• Any educational background in computer science will be helpful, as will other IT certifications you have achieved.
• Hands-on actual experience is not only essential, but also required to obtain this certification.

Your Educational Background

• Do you have a computer science degree?

  You'll have a good base knowledge needed for 3 or more of the 10 domains, assuming that you finished your degree and your schooling and have some fairly sophisticated computer skills. Subject areas such as application development, networking, and database design are a great help.

• Did you attend some type of technical school or computer cram course?

  This question applies to low-level or short-term computer courses. Many of these courses are extremely basic or focused in one particular area. Although the CISSP exam is not platform specific, training classes that focused on networking, security, hacking, or database design will help you pass the exam.

• Have you developed any security policies, performed security audits, performed penetration tests, or developed response plans?

  If yes, you will probably be able to handle about half of the CISSP exam domains.

• Do you have a photographic memory?

  If yes, you might have a vague chance of passing simply by reading this book, taking some practice exams, and using the Internet to brush up on the subjects you are weak in. However, the goal here is to gain a real understanding of the material. As a CISSP, you might be asked to lead, plan, organize, or control your organization's security operations; if that happens, you'll need a real understanding of how the various technologies and techniques work. Don't cheat yourself or gamble with your career.

Again, the education and requirements given here are by no means absolute. Still, an education can give you a very good grounding in any endeavorthe higher the level of education, the better.

Testing Your Exam Readiness

Whether you attend a training class, form a study group, or study on your own, preparing for the CISSP exam is essential. The exam will cost you about $500, depending on where you are located, so you'll want to do everything you can to make sure you pass on the first try. Reading, studying, and taking practice exams are the best ways to increase your readiness. Practice exams help in a number of ways:

• Practice exams highlight weak spots for further study.
• Practice exams give you a general perspective on the question format. Practicing the questions the way they are asked can help enormously on the actual testing day.
• Two full-length practice exams are provided with this book. Exam Cram 2 also publishes a second book, CISSP Practice Questions Exam, with more than 500 practice CISSP test questions; it is an excellent supplement to this book.