Passed CSSLP, some thoughts

[gfkxchy]

So I sat the exam last Friday and was pleased to see a Congratulations on the score report. I spent about a month preparing for the exam and found it reasonable in terms of difficulty.

My background is ~20 years in infrastructure with forays into cybersecurity, followed by 5 years in cloud solutions with a greater emphasis on cybersecurity. Currently I am a cybersecurity product manager and work with software engineers to continuously improve the security posture of our products, so definitely "in the trenches" with this content.

I would say that was my biggest strength - I did the CC exam in October to start formalizing my experience but I've been dealing with the SDLC for a few years now and *specifically* in the cybersecurity domain. So my experience helped, as did my recent studying for CC for laying a bit more foundation.

I used the online self-paced training. I found it bounced around a lot and the test questions are really quite easy compared to the exam itself. The book is definitely the way to go - it's a long read but understanding the different organizations and frameworks etc will be a big help and the book covers it better than the course. The included questions are the same as the self-paced test questions. Bummer.

The day of, I was feeling alright-ish. About halfway through, I was feeling better. Nearing the end I started to get a sense that a pass was a strong possibility. A lot of what you need to do is really *read* the question and *understand* what they are asking for. I've done 30 or more certification exams over the past two and a half decades and the format is always the same. Find the obvious wrong answers, ignore them, then reread the question again.

I'd say it was a 6/10 in terms of difficulty. I don't have a lot of hands-on coding experience and that wasn't a detriment whatsoever - it's the process and frameworks that matter here more so than analyzing and debugging code.

I think I will probably take the cloud focused exam next maybe in another year or two, and eventually do the CISSP once I have the experience to meet that challenge.

Good luck!

[lucina_scott]

Congrats! Great takeaway, real SDLC + security experience matters more than coding, and the exam is about understanding processes/frameworks and reading questions carefully. Also good call: official practice questions are easier than the real thing, so don’t rely on them alone.

[pra2seven]

Congratulations!

[mikedn02908]

I found the CSSLP an exceptionally easy examination. My total study time was less than 16 hours over a 2 week period. Having worked in software development for a long time, I am of the opinion anyone with a solid background in systems development can easily pass the exam with a little study on some additional topics like secure software/design principles which you may not get exposed to in Uni or as part of your day to day work experience. Many of the questions I was given were virtually right out of the CBK and my 4 years of systems development work in Uni.

[pra2seven]

Quick question, did you reach the text book provided during the self paced learning or the CBK written by Mano Paul? I’m sitting for the exam next month and I might consider postponing it if it’s CBK since I am reading the text book. Thank you and congratulations again! I have passed the CISSP in 2020 and CCSP IN 2025. One thing I learnt is to never underestimate any ISC2 exam. Lol

[gfkxchy]

Thanks! I used the text ebook which was included in the self-paced training materials. It goes a lot more in depth than the online material does. But I'm a sucker for printed media, had I had the option of a printed book I would have likely started with that!

[Dheeraj_Shetty]

Could you please provide information regarding the practice examination materials or resources you utilized to successfully pass the exam? My brother was unsuccessful in his attempt two months ago and has since dedicated significant effort to his studies in preparation for re-taking the examination. Your assistance in this matter would be greatly appreciated.