CISSP stands for Certified Information Systems Security Professional. This is a certificate which is also known as ISC2 and is an independent information security certificate which is given by International Information System Security Certification Consortium. In recent times around 149.174 (ISC) have this certificate around the globe. This is where you can use the free CISSP study guide pdf and notes that you can download to help with your studies for the exam. This is sometimes better than using the official book.
Contents
What is CISSP (ISC2)
Back in 2004, its designation was accredited under ANSI ISO/IEC standard 17024:2003. It got approved by the US Department of Defense in their Information Assurance Technical (IAT), Managerial (IAM) as well as System Architect and Engineer (IASAE) categories for the requirement of their DoDD 8570 certification.
NARIC which is England National Recognition Information Centre is a designated UK national agency that is used to recognize and compare international skills and qualifications and acts on behalf of the UK government was able to assess its qualification like a level 7 award which is equivalent to a master’s degree. With this change, all the cyber security professionals shall be able to use this certificate towards higher education course credit and also be able to open new chances and opportunities for all roles which recognize master’s degrees.
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CISSP History
Now back in the 1980s, there was a need for a standard, vendor-neutral certificate program which was able to provide all with a structure and demonstrated competence. In 1988 SIG-CS which is the Special Interest Group for Computer Security, DPMA which is Data Processing Management Association let many organizations interested in such goal. This was formed as a non-profit organization by 1989.
After this, in the 90s a working committee with the purpose to establish a common body of knowledge (CBK) was formed. Its first version got finalized by 1992 and by 1994 its credential was launched.
Then in 2003, it was adopted as a baseline for the US national security agency program IS SEP.
CISSP Course and Study Guide Features
Its curriculum breaks down the subject into many different topics related to information securities which are referred to as domains. Its examination is based on what is termed by (ISC)² to a common body of knowledge (CBK). Moreover, it also states that CISSP is a taxonomy that is a collection of topics that are relevant to closely to information security professionals throughout the globe.
The CISSP CBK has established a common framework of information security terms as well as principles with this the professionals around the globe shall be able to discuss, the debate as well as resolve issues pertaining to the professional with common understanding.
There is a domain refresh which shall impact the weighting of domains and these shall not change all by themselves.
From 2018, the following domains were covered:
- Security and Risk Management.
- Asset Security.
- Security Architecture and Engineering.
- Communication and Network Security.
- Identity and Access Management.
- Security Assessment and Testing.
- Security Operations.
- Software Development Security.
Then from 2015-2018, its curriculum was divided into 8 different domains that were very much similar to the latest curriculum explained above. The only domain which changed its name was “security engineering” which by the 2018 revision was expanded towards “security architecture and engineering”.
It covered the following domain before 2015:
- Operations security.
- Telecommunications and network security.
- Information security governance and risk management.
- Software development security.
- Security architecture and design.
- Access control.
- Business continuity and disaster recovery planning.
- Legal, regulations, investigations and compliance.
- Physical (environmental) security.
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CISSP Notes and CBK Requirements
- Their qualification is endorsed by another (ISC)² certificate holder in good standing.
- Pass multiple choice CISSP exam which is for a time period of 3 hours, carries 150 questions with a scaled score of 700 points. One needs to pass in all 8 domains.
- Need to answer all questions which are related to criminal history and something related to this.
- Attest to the truth of assertions regarding professionals’ experience and accept the code of ethics of CISSP.
- Comes with 5 years minimum direct full-time security work experience in two or more than of its CBK. In 1st year there would be a 4-year college degree, master’s degree in information security, or having other certificated. If someone does not have 5 years of experience might earn the associate of (ISC)² which is designed to bypass its required exam.
- Now, this is valid for a time period of 6 years during which the candidate shall be able to get the required experience and then submit the needed endorsement form for certification as a CISSP. Once the professional experience requirement is completed it shall be converted to an official status.
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Why you should study CISSP and not any other course in the security domain
The certification magazine in 2005 surveyed around 35,167 IT professionals in around 170 different countries on compensation and saw that CISSPs led certificates list which was ranked by salary. Then they had a salary survey in 2006 which ranked its credential highly and ranked its concentration certificate as one of the best-paid credentials in Information Technology.
Then in 2008, a study came out that IT professionals who had CISSP and 5 years of experience had salaries around the US, about US (or 26%) more than professionals in IT with the same experience levels that do not carry such certificates. Now, keep one thing in your mind that any actual cause and effect relationship between salaries and certificate is still not proved.
In 2017 CyberSecurityDegrees.com made a survey on 10000 current and historical cyber security job listings which had a preference for those who carried CISSP certificates. It also found out that these job openings offered an average salary of more than the average cyber security salary.
The ANSI certifies that it meets all the requirements of ANSI/ISO/IEC standard 17024 which is a personnel certification accreditation program.
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CISSP PDF Download (Study Guide, Notes)
Security professionals are increasingly becoming hard to find because of the skillset required and that so many few are in the world. This is why the Certified Information Systems Security Professional certification exam and the course is in such high demand. You will no longer require a cheat sheet and will only be able to pass by learning the content below.
CISSP Course Modules and Notes
We have combined the various modules of the CISSP book pdf and their notes into one file to make it easier for you to read for your studies and save time. You can also encrypt and secure them with a password if you wish.
CISSP Study Guide (1st, 2nd and 9th Edition)
The CISSP official study guide pdf will help you pass the exam which is crucial in being certified. It teaches you from basics such as hacking a school computer all the way to securing complex government and national level servers.
Certified Information Systems Security Professional Study Guide PDF Download
This also has the modules if someone is after them.