What is CISSP Certification?

Exam Overview

CISSP certification is world renowned cybersecurity certification maintained and delivered by non-profitable organization known as (ISC) ² (International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium). It is vendor-agnostic certificate. The exam is designed for advanced and highly experienced cybersecurity professionals working in leadership and operations roles.

Candidates should have at least five years of direct work experience in information security. But, professionals who lack the required work experience can start taking associate level and be candidates for the exam. It is also possible to apply and take the newly introduced entry-level cybersecurity certificate.

CISSP Certification Requirements

CISSP certification exam covers eight information security domains and it is the most important and prestigious certificate in the industry. The cost of the certificate is $749 at the time of writing this post. Additionally, certified professionals must pay a maintenance fee of $125 annually for three consecutive years.

As of the writing, the eight domain of CISSP and question distribution percentage of each domain comprises the following:

• Security and Risk Management (15%)
• Asset Security (10%)
• Security Architecture and Engineering (13%)
• Communication and Network Security (13%)
• Identity and Access Management (13%)
• Security Assessment and Testing (12%)
• Security Operations (13%)
• Software Development Security (11%)

Detailed exam outline and structure can be accessible from  CISSP Certification Exam Outline.

Note that the percentage of distribution of questions in the final exam is regularly subject to change.

It is Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) based exam. It employs embedded intelligent algorithm to implicitly evaluate exam takers in real time. There are maximum of 175 and a minimum of 125 multiple choice questions and it is four hours exam.

Depending on their performance, exam takers can finish it on 125 questions. Unlike CISM exam, candidates cannot flag and traverse questions back and forth for revision. They have only one chance to review and answer each question. Hence, they must cautiously read each question and submit answer before pressing proceed button. It employs scale based evaluation method.

Candidates must attain passing grade (700 out of 1000 points) in all domains. Unlike most certifications, this criterion is what makes CISSP nerve-racking exam in addition to other unique characteristics. Furthermore, the scoring and reporting systems of the exam is Pass/Fail based. It is available in Pearson VUE approved exam centers established worldwide upon completion of necessary payments.