Today, September 27, 2024, marks a significant milestone in my career. I'm thrilled to announce that I've successfully passed the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) exam!

The Journey

Preparation

This is my 28th certification. I follow a framework for each certification: Book → Custom notes → Quick readouts → Last Minute Review. The CISSP exam was MOST challenging exam I have ever taken.
The main challenge during the study process was finding time. This certification isn't just about reading and taking an exam—it requires comprehensive knowledge, the ability to apply that knowledge, and job experience.
My journey started in December 2021. I began studying for CISSP and attended a bootcamp with TIA (Andrew Ramdayal, the famous Andrew from this video). It was good, but I lost focus—work got busy. In December 2022, to get a feel for the ISC2 exam, I attempted and passed the CC exam.
In April 2024, I committed to a regular CISSP study routine. Every Sunday, I dedicated 5 to 6 hours to listening to Rob Witcher's Mind Maps and Pete Zerger's CRAM and Addendum videos while creating custom notes. I also read the Destination Certification CISSP book (First Edition). By August, I had completed my notes—a combination of Rob's Mind Maps and Pete's CRAM and Addendum content—and booked the exam. I began practicing with LearnZApp questions but quickly realized they weren't representative of the actual exam. After reading success stories on Reddit, I turned to Discord (CyberSecurity Station) for more suitable resources. On Discord, two contributors, Tresharley and DarkHelmet, posted sample questions. I completed about 40 of these, which were excellent for testing both knowledge and deep application. I also did various sample questions on CISSP Study Group. In total, I solved a maximum of 500 questions, focusing more on application and building a comprehensive knowledge base. One issue was that I didn't have the endurance to attempt 150 questions in one sitting before the exam—which I don't recommend. Instead, I suggest that once you feel ready, take full practice tests and thoroughly understand why you got questions correct or incorrect. However, it's crucial to practice with the right questions. I suggest canceling all other subscriptions and purchasing Quantum Exams—they're the best. As a member of that site, I highly recommend it. For knowledge, all you need are Destination Certification materials and Pete Zerger's videos.

Exam Experience & Strategy

The exam was brutal—questions were challenging with multiple potential answers. However, if you have a solid knowledge base and the ability to apply it, you should do fine.
For this exam, you need a solid knowledge base, good exam-taking skills, and the right mindset.
If the question has word “NEXT” in it ⇒ Strategy: Look for sequence NOT the outcome
If the question has word “MOST” in it ⇒ Strategy: If you are doing one thing; you are NOT doing the other.
Exam Strategy:
- Read each question carefully three times—a single word can change the answer.
- Time Management (Recommendation-This was my strategy):
  - Plan for 150 questions.
  - Take your time with the first 30 questions, ensuring you answer them correctly.
  - Increase your pace from question 31 to 100.
  - If the exam extends beyond 100 questions, slow down for the final 50 (Plan to spare 80 mins for last 50 questions)

Exam composition is (50% Knowledge Base + 25% Managers Mindset +25% Exam Taking and English Reading Skills)

What I wrote on the whiteboard film sheet provided in the examination center?

BE THE RISK ADVISOR; DON'T SOLVE THINGS (CISSP Mindset) People Can See I am Monitoring (Domain # 1 - RMF-NIST) Real Developers Ideas Take Effect (Domain # 8 - SDLC) I repeatedly deny Michael Oliver (Domain # 8 - Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI)) Governance Drive Innovation Via Organization (Domain # 8 - SAMM Model) DRMRRRL ****(Domain # 7 - Incident Mgmt)

Key Takeaways

Focus on interconnectivity between concepts, Risk Management drives everything, how Hybrid cryptography is used in famous TLS protocol? How TCB and DAC or MAC related? Etc.
Build endurance to solve 150 questions in one sitting.
Here are final recommendations on Prep Materials:
- Study: Rob Witcher's Mind Maps and Pete Zerger's CRAM and Addendum videos
- Practice Exam: https://quantumexams.com
- Dest Cert App for Flash Cards — thats it!!! 3 Things
- (Optional) If you need book for reference use Destination CISSP Second Edition.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Rob Witcher for all the free content on YouTube. This wouldn't have been possible without your videos and the OSI Model handout.

I would like to thank Pete for his wonderful CRAM videos on YouTube.

I would like to acknowledge DarkHelmet for creating Quantum Exams. Although I didn't have much time—only a few days—I read through the questions to understand the "unique" writing style and some of the English words used. This really helped me in the real exam.

I would like to thank Spicy Punk Rocker for his encouragement and help in making the decision to use Quantum Exams.

I would like to thank Gwen for her challenging questions on Udemy. They kept reminding me that I wasn't ready yet—which was motivating!

I would like to thank MB from skool.com/cissp

I would like to thank Prabh Nair for YouTube videos (Coffee Shots) - Suggestion: You need to advertise and organize your content it has hidden gems which no one knows about.

I would like to thank the CISSP Reddit group for their inspiring success stories and valuable contributions.

I would like to thank certmike.com (Mike Chapple) for his books and materials. Mike has an extraordinary talent—he can write a detailed chapter about VLAN, create a concise 3-minute video on the same topic, and then distill the VLAN definition into a single line. It's truly impressive!

I would like to thank Andrew Ramdayal from for bootcamp (https://tia.edu/)

I would like to thank Feroz Haider of FerroTechnics (https://www.ferrotechnics.com) for providing me with CISSP study materials and encouraging me to believe in my ability to succeed..

Lastly, I would like to thank my family (especially my mom) for their understanding and for giving me the time I needed—it was a long journey!