Anyone here passed this exam? is it worth it? anyone have any thoughts?

cheers

t|n

Hopefully will be taking this at some point. Lot of work and you need a fair amount of preparation. Several guys at work have done it - both passed first time, but it was a lot of work.

You'll need a min 3 years relevant experience, a recommendation from an existing member and pass the exam (300 questions, multiple choice - bit like the Cisco ones - you have upto 6 hours to do it). After that you need to earn credits to maintain the certification.

The actual cost of the exam is about $600 and the books will cost you about £100 from Amazon. Most of the guys at work did a 7 day intensive course (we're talking 14 hours a day for 7 days type course) as prep. Normally these companies will offer a guaranteed pass, so you can retake the course if necessary. Cost is around $4000.

Best books I've found are are 'All in One CISSP Certification' by Shon Harris ISBN 0-07-219353-0 and it is also worth reading 'Security Engineering' by Ross Anderson ISBN 0-471-38922-6

Memorise these two and you're laughing :)

I've been told that out of the 10 areas of specialisation you will need to be sh*t hot on at least 4 topics and have a good working knowledge of the others.

As to whether it is worth it, then yes - it's the closest thing to an independent industry wide qualification. It does carry weight and you will get a lot of respect if you've got it. All the guys I know that have done really do know their stuff. Worth a fair few quid on your salary as well.

More details from the (ISC)2 website

Cheers
Chris

Cheers chris for the info.. will check it out.. was debating whether to try and go for it, this year..or wait a year and get more experience, hence more preparation and hopefully let the job market pickup abit better in the meanwhile...

cheers

t|n

If the number of calls I'm getting from recruitment consultants in anything to go by, then I think things are beginning to pick up. A few people at work have commented on the same thing. Nobody has heard much for the last 6 months or so, now it's 2 or 3 times a week!

Chris

You could also look at the TICSA certification as a (slightly)lower level alternative.

And you've also got SSCP which is the more general security qualiifaction offered by (ISC)2.

Chris

cheers guys..will checkout those :)