Delays & Chapter 1

Hello friends. Sorry for the delay since my last post, but there were some issues between amazon.com and UPS, which resulted in a delay in getting my book. All is well now, as the situation has been resolved and the book has arrived. Unfortunately this delay has already put me behind in the schedule. To compensate, I will try to push through the material a little faster than normal for the next couple of weeks.

With that here is an overview of Chapter 1: Becoming a CISSP.

First of all, CISSP stands for Certified Information Systems Security Professional. It is a certification given by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)2, and it is used as a means of asserting an individuals competency in the 10 domains of the CISSP Common Body of Knowledge (CBK).

The test is made up of 250 multiple choice questions, each of which contains 4 possible answers. Only 225 of the 250 questions are actually graded, and these 225 are graded on a 1000 point scale. Not all questions are weighted the same in value, and a score of 700 is needed to pass. The remaining 25 questions are referred to as research questions. Research questions are added to each exam to test their integrity before being added to the bank of actual test questions. Each person is given a full 6 hours to complete all of the questions and you are permitted to move through the test however you see fit. The exam contains both concept based questions, as well as scenario based ones. There is no limit to the number of times you can take the test, nor is there any required wait time between tests if you fail.

In order to gain the certification, the candidate is required to not only pass the test, but to meet certain professional work requirements as well, such as working full time in at least two of the ten domains. They are also required to obtain an endorsement from a currently certified (ISC)2 professional. Finally, the individual must read and sign the Code of Ethics, which can be found here.The certification is respected on an international level, adding to its value in this era of globalization.