Customer Reviews

CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Fifth Edition

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

There is no simple formula to prepare for the CISSP certification, and no single resource which can guarantee success on the certification exam since every applicant's background is unique. However, this book (fifth edition) was my only resource in preparing for the exam and I passed on my first attempt (April 24, 2010).

I spent 60+ hours in preparation for the exam... that's 60+ hours of DEDICATED individual study using this book and CD, not 60+ hours spent web surfing during lunch hours or commercial breaks. My recent background is in middle management, with 20 years experience in network architecture and data security, so I already had a firm technical foundation for the test areas dealing with protocols and encryption variations. I also have an MS in Computer Science. Nonetheless, the exam was so broad, with topics covering general principles and concepts, that I could have prepared twice as long and still left the exam with questions about the outcome.

My personal opinion is that formal classroom instruction, through one of the many organizations offering CISSP preparation courses, is a worthwhile companion to Shon Harris' book. A study group is also a good idea. You will not obtain CISSP certification if you take the exam without preparation. This book (fifth edition) was sufficient, but not 100% comprehensive, to prepare me for passing the CISSP test.

Note: Some reviewers do not appreciate Shon's frequent analogies and humor. Most of her analogies helped me internalize the complex topics, but that's my personal learning style. The efforts at humor were generally awful, but every once in a while she was subtle and brilliant enough to make me laugh out loud. Working through Shon's unique writing style was not a problem for me... I actually found it refreshing.

From a perspective of preparation for the CISSP examination this book is one of the standard places to start from. In that respect, I would give it a 4-start simply because it follows the core notion of the exam itself in that it is a mile wide and an inch deep.

However, do not expect this book to provide technical details or even technical language consistently. There's a lot of verbiage, needless attempts at humor - which really degrades the overall standing of the book - and just the right amount of information, but no more.

Also, do not make this book the sole resource for preparation. You *may* pass the exam but will be none the wiser for most of what the book covers.

Given that this is a technical examination after all, I would have much appreciated if the author did not try and frame the same statement in multiple ways in the same paragraph, stuck to using consistent technical language and provided more links to resources for additional information. It would also have been nicer if the key technical points, definitions, important values were better highlighted - or even repeated in a prominent tip - after every section so that a second reading becomes a lot less demanding. The exam is challenging in itself and the book and author can do a lot more to make preparation a less demanding experience.

It is difficult to come across books that are worthy of technical appreciation and I am afraid the above points make this a middle of the road effort.

I have no particular affinity to either the author or publication but would recommend giving the Mike Chapple book a shot. You will be a lot less frustrated reading technical matter for a technical examination than with the narrative-style of the Shon Harris book.

I bought the third edition of this book in October 2009 to prepare for the exam. The reason for buying that instead of this fifth edition is obvious. It cost me only $2.95 plus $4.00 shipping. I was a little worry at the beginning because of the new material that was added since 2005. However, I though I can supplement with material in the internet. At the end, I don't have the time because the exam was on January 16, 2010 which gave me less than 4 months. During the exam, I did not see anything that I have not seen in the third edition. If you know something about the exam, you know they are not going to ask you directly about a concept or technology. So, you really have to understand the material. Since CISSP is more about principle and concept and less about specific technology, using a third or fifth edition is not going to make a big different. I passed the exam in one shot. Don't get me wrong. Getting the latest and the greatest is always good and I will consider getting the fifth in the near future when I need to brush up the knowledge. But if you want to save a little of money, consider getting the fourth or the third.

First and foremost I passed the CISSP exam on the first try using this book. Please read the rest of this review carefully if you are thinking of purchasing this book. Read the title of the book "CISSP All-in-One Exam Guide, Fifth Edition" - This is not a tech manual, it is a study guide as clearly outlined in the title. If you are looking for a book to keep on your shelf that you want to lookup real word security issues, then this is NOT it. However, if you want to pass the CISSP exam using a "get to the point Exam Guide", then this is the one you want. I tried reading the ISC2 CBK 2nd and I could not do it. It wondered off of to topics that are not on the CISSP exam. Case in point, it is a "Body of Knowledge" and not a to the point "Exam Guide". Shon Harris has broken the material up in small enough sections so if you have a problem area then you can concentrate on your problem area in the book. Use this book and CCCure's CISSP quizzes ($40 for 90 days access) and you can identify your weak areas, fix them and pass the test. I passed the test using CCCure's questions (EXCELLENT) to test my knowledge and this book to improve my weak areas and I PASSED.
Just a few points when you take the exam. I took the exam on September 18, 2010 in Wayne PA. I received email notification that I passed on October 20, 2010. I submitted the additional information for job history and endorsement on October 25, 2010. On November 16, 2010 I received another email saying I am now a CISSP and my docs will be mailed to me within six weeks. A of Thanksgiving Day (Today) I do not have a certificate. So, as you can see, it can up to 90 days to actually provide proof that you have an in hand certificate.

This is the absolute gold standard, the one-stop shopping reference for CISSP certification! The price is economical enough to highlight its passages and put notes in its margins. It is the fifty-dollar solution to the horrifically expensive test.

Every IT professional I met, who passed the CISSP test the FIRST time, credits the Shon Harris CISSP manual.

It is the preferred reference for corporations to hand out free to thier employees.

This book is great for preparing for the CISSP, I highly recommend it. But don't bother with the Kindle version. If you buy the hardcover version of the book it comes with a CD that has a PDF version of the entire book which can be loaded on to the Kindle. The CD also provides extras like study questions that you can't get on the Kindle version. Finally, some of the charts and graphs in the book are almost impossible to understand on a Kindle screen - you really need to see them in hardcopy for them to be useful.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. I used this and Exam Cram as my sole sources to prepare for this exam and I passed on my first try. I don't have a very technical background so this book prepared me thoroughly for the exam and also helped a great deal in my work as an IT Security Specialist.

I find this book to be very well written and contains alot of updated materials. I was getting a bit upset that I couldnt find a updated reference material until I found out about this edition. I would recommend this book to anyone who is attempting to get their CISSP. I've just started reading the book today and managed to get to Chapter 3. This book is very well written, and the cd contains multiple PDF's, that I use to read on my cell phone. I also like how the PDF's are broken down into chapters. It helps set small goals and allows you to feel accomplished after reading a 100+ page chapter!

Like many who have commented before me, Ms Harris' attempt at humor tends to get in the way of reading. Time is the essence; crisp, concise and clear is the way to go.

There are also a couple of mistakes that I have taken note of:

(1) On page 12, the question "Which item is not part of a Kerberos authentication implementation?" has no answer because the given answer "A message authentication code" is wrong -- RFC 4120 clearly shows the application of HMAC. Even without the RFC, authentication using symmetric-key crypto clearly requires a MAC.

(2) IPSec is more commonly written as IPsec. The second paragraph on page 760 is outdated, as ISAKMP is integrated into IKE since RFC 5996.

(3) In Table 6-3, page 443, not all Halon substitutes work by interfering with, or more precisely, inhibiting the chemical reaction. Inergen and Argonite for example work by displacing oxygen.

(4) On page 936-937, the definitions of DCL, DDL and DML are not really consistent with the database literature. For example, instead of "defining the internal organization of the database" (which sounds very vague), DCL is really for "controlling access to the data and to the database". On page 942, the definition of savepoint is also not precise. Savepoint is really a point where you can roll back a transaction to. See "Oracle Database 10g: The Complete Reference".

(5) On page 948, the definition of durability is not precise. This statement from Haerder and Reuter's 1983 ACM Computing Surveys paper is better: "Once a transaction has been completed and has committed its results to the database, the system must guarantee that these results survive any subsequent malfunctions."

(6) On page 1087, the phrase "As in RAID 1 striping" is wrong, as RAID 1 is for mirroring or duplexing, not striping.

Shon's fluid writing style is enjoyable to read, and communicates effectively, much better than what I've seen from any other CISSP book. However, it takes some time to get through. I only gave myself a month to read it before the exam and I was CRAZY. I think two months would be more reasonable, but to get it done you really need to come up with a schedule and track your progress. If you don't have time for that, I'd recommend attending a bootcamp.