Passed my (ISC)² CCSP exam!

The most beautifull way to end 2018, so happy to blog about me passing the (ISC)² CSSP exam at the first attempt. The exam wasn’t easy but also not that super hard (like CISSP), but you’ll have to know the facts … facts … and all the facts.

Experience

Currently i have been in the IT field for 18 years, for which almost 10 years in networking and security and I have passed the CISSP certification earlier in 2018 (big help).

Exam preparation

The preparation for my CCSP was all self-study, as i was confident that CISSP gives a huge foundation and the cloud concepts are all around us. I just had to have the right video’s and books.

Study materials

The following books helped me with the studying:

• CCSP (ISC)2 Certified Cloud Security Professional Official Study Guide 1st Edition
  (978-1119277415) by Brian T. O’Hara and Ben Malisow.
• CCSP Certified Cloud Security Professional All-in-One Exam Guide 1st Edition
  (978-1259835469 ) by Daniel Carter
• CCSP Official (ISC)2 Practice Tests 1st Edition
  (978-119449225) by Ben Malisow

Both CCSP books are a good read and cover most of the materials. The All-in-One Guide is more helpfull if you want to read per domain, Sybex uses a different approach which make the book an easy reader.

Beside the courseware books you should also check out the following documents :

• CSA Security Guidance v4
• CSA Cloud controls Matrix
• Enisa Cloud Computing Risk Assessment
• NIST 800-125 Guide to Security for Full Virtualization Technologies
• NIST 800-144 Guidelines on security and Privacy in Plublic Cloud Computing
• NIST 800-145 Definition of Cloud Computing
• NIST 800- 146 Cloud Computing Synopsis and Recommendations
• NIST 500-292 Cloud Computing Reference Architecture

CBT video’s

I’m a huge fan of video’s to learn my content, after that the reading goes much easier

1. Cybrary CCSP course
   Same as CISSP, great explanation and Kelly keeps it small and simple.
2. ITpro.tv Certified Cloud Security Professional (UPDATED 2016)
   Did not finish this, found it too long and couldn’t keep my concentration with this video’s.

Practice tests

Practice … practice and more practice! Doing practice exams preps you for the official exam and helps you discover the nasty words like Best, Least likey, Most likey.

I started with CCSP Official Practice Tests and on the last day i used the exam engine that comes with the CCSP Certified Cloud Security Professional All-in-One Exam. Found them both very helpfull.

There’s also a Boson CCSP, but i didn’t get the chance to test / use this one 🙁

Examday

Allthough i have passed the CISSP i must admit being a bit nervous as people say that it’s also a hard test to pass. But in my opinion it’s was a very solid exam and did test you pretty good! I think i finished under 90 minutes and received the Provisionally passed message 🙂

– Passed at my first attempt! –

Examtips

Let’s keep this one simple as all info is allready above:

1. Do you’re reading, including scanning the additional documents
2. Practice and understand why you didn’t choose an answer and know why you have to choose the right one.
3. Answered a question wrong? review the coursebook.
4. Watch out for the Best, Least ….. questions!
5. Keep it calm!

Hopefully it helps you with your study towards the (ISC) ² CCSP exam, Good luck!!