Fully revised for the latest exam release, this authoritative volume offers thorough coverage of all the material on the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) exam. Written by a renowned security expert and CISSP, this guide features complete details on all 10 exam domains developed by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC²). Inside, you'll find learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter, exam tips, practice questions, and in-depth explanations. CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Fourth Edition will not only help you pass the test, but also be your essential on-the-job reference.
Covers all 10 subject areas on the exam:
Access control
Application security
Business continuity and disaster recovery planning
Cryptography
Information security and risk management
Legal, regulations, compliance, and investigations
Operations security
Physical (environmental) security
Security architecture and design
Telecommunications and network security
The CD-ROM features:
Simulated exam with practice questions and answers
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet Wonderfully quick response and shipping time. Nice to have a request for any comments.
Overly wordy novel on CISSP This book is presented in novel format where huge paragraphs dominate. People don't mentally store information in paragraph format; they store it in bullets or chunks of data so you first have to read the paragraph, then deduce the bullets for mental storage. It's weird but I think most books are written like this.
There are endless stories about security using sometimes inappropriate metaphors for security which don't always equate to the technology at hand.
Also, the chapters aren't laid out in the 10 Domains covered by the CISSP exam so you have to jump around to go through the domains.
By comparison, the Sybex CISSP book does a worse job because the chapters aren't even named in relation to what the ten CISSP domains are so you have to guess which chapter goes to which domain.
There is good use of graphics but there is a lot of extra information not on the exam so if you're looking for a concise technical review of CISSP exam material, look elsewhere.
PS the Shon Harris videos are as long and drawn out.
Wouldn't have passed without it! I can honestly say that if it weren't for this book I probably would not have passed my CISSP exam. Unlike other prep-guides, Shon engages the reader and keeps their attention. Also, this book doesn't read like a "read this book and pass an exam" book. It reads like a security book which just so happens to teach you the contents of the CISSP CBK. Good work and congrats on the 4th edition.
A Good Baseline for Exam Review I just passed the CISSP exam using, almost exclusively, the Shon Harris, 4th ed., 'All in ONE, CISSP Exam Guide' - supplementing Harris with some additional materials on networking and encryption. It took me about 7 weeks to study the materials before taking the exam despite a busy work schedule (my background is operations). The book is an excellent resource for most of the 10 knowledge domains with special mention to LAW, and Physical Security. However, the Networking and Encryption Domains were not nearly adequate - not enough information and presented at a level below that of the actual exam. Use the questions at the end of each chapter as review but be WARNED, most of the chapter review questions are much to simple. Seek out other text books for more representative exam questions(combining knowledge with logic and practical scenarios). Also, do not waste your time on the questions found on the CD - way, way to simple. I found the book a little verbose for my taste but the many tables, diagrams, summary areas, and the quite excellent Quick Tips section at the end of each chapter more than made up for this minor flaw.
Bigger books, less knowledge Not sure why this book is so highly rated. Having taken (and passed) the CISSP several years ago, I need to retake this exam and bought three books for review and study purposes. I have a previous version of the Harris book and it is ~900 pages. This new version is 1100+ pages, but seems to be filled more with fluff and some of the actually useful knowledge has been removed! One example which stands out is the removal of the effectiveness and acceptance charts for biometrics methods. This is an important concept and it is entirely ignored in this version. Other things have been changed to no real benefit. The CIA triad (as is the de-facto acronym, even in her previous book) has been renamed to the ICA triad. There is no reason for this. Finally, the entire book is written in a dumbed-down, cutesy fashion in an attempt (I believe) to make the book more approachable. All it has done, IMO, has increased the number of pages, possibly forcing out relevant materials. I will pass this test, but it won't be because of this book. Buy the ISC book and the Krutz book (and/or a previous version of the Harris book) - you will not be disappointed.
UPDATE: ok, took the test in Sept and passed. I won't turn this into a test review as this is about the book, but when you buy a certification book, your primary requirement is that the book will be timely and relevant to the test material. The 4th Edition Harris book does just that. ISC has made significant changes to both the content and nature of the test (in large part to keep its test current on security trends and to satisfy a larger target audience) and Shon has captured those changes very well. So, having said all that, it is my revised opinion that this book is more than adequate for passing the test (although it is still filled with fluff.) If I could change the review, I would probably give it 4 stars at this point. The ISC book and the Krutz book are both excellent references to actually apply the knowledge in a meaningful way, however if you just want to pass the test, the Harris book will serve you well.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Not Available Comics
Trevor
