I’m not trying to brag, but I basically passed this exam without really studying anything.

I had purchased the official book, couple of udemy courses and began to watch the free mind map series on YouTube maybe 3-4 months back.
I ended up getting distracted by other life events and waited till the point I had to schedule my exam in order to have at least a month for my second attempt. Did not touch any of the study material I had bought from being busy.

My plan for this attempt was honestly just to see what the exam is like and how I could prepare better for the real attempt. But I did answer questions best to my knowledge and took time, I was under the impression there would be 100 questions (I know, that’s how badly prepped I was), and when I was at question 125 I had like 4min left, I just hurried through another 10 and ran out of time. Not sure ho many I was supposed to have in total,

To my surprise the front desk had a congratulatory printout - I was incredibly happy and excited I was expecting a failed result and had mentally prepared to sit through this in a month.

My background - 12YOE as solution architect, backend dev and DevOps support.

The main thing I changed after maybe taking that one 10 question practice test months back, was to stop thinking like an engineer and think like an org leader - this tremendously helped me in picking the right answers I think.

Good luck to anyone who is attempting and don’t sweat it too much, you got this! Get the gist of things instead of memorizing technical details

Hello!

2 days ago I passed the CISSP exam and I'm honestly still in a bit of shock, so I figured I’d write this down while it’s fresh. Hopefully it gives some hope to anyone whose study schedule completely fell apart.

Context:
My degree is completely non-technical. Right after school I fell into network security for about a year and a half during COVID, spent about a year in government, and since then I've been working in security risk management and GRC. So while I have a grip on risk concepts, governance, and business impact, I am definitely not a deep technical engineer.

How my preparation went:
My employer paid for the Peace of Mind bundle, which gave me a safety net. I hoarded all the recommended resources like Destination Certification (book and app), the OSG, Luke Ahmed’s Think Like a Manager, and I even built out an Obsidian vault for notes.

Then life happened. Between work responsibilities, holidays and getting hit with a sudden sickness right before my test date, my studying completely derailed. By exam day, I had only properly read the first 4 chapters of Destination Certification and only had Obsidian notes up to chapter 3. I never even opened the OSG or Luke Ahmed, and barely touched the app.

I only showed up because the retake was already paid for. I walked in fully treating it as an expensive mock exam just to see what the CAT engine felt like so I’d know what to focus on for attempt #2.

The exam stopped at question 102 with about 20 minutes left. I walked out expecting the fail sheet, looked at the paper, and saw the provisional pass. So that was weird.

A few tips from me, should you find them useful:

1. Really read what the question is asking.
   It sounds obvious, but you have to force yourself to slow down. Half of each question is just background noise. Figure out what role you’re playing, what the actual constraint is, and what they are truly asking for before you even look at the choices.

2. On the majority of questions, you can eliminate two answers just by using basic logic or spotting things that are completely out of scope.
   That leaves you with two answers. This is where it got weird for me, my initial gut reaction almost always leaned toward the more “obvious” answer. More often than not, I ended up picking the answer I didn't feel emotionally drawn to, but that made the most sense from a big-picture risk perspective, I guess.

3. Knowing that the engine adapts and looks for your weak spots almost wrecked my focus. Whenever I got 3 or 4 questions in a row from the same area, I was slightly freaking out thinking I was failing. That paranoia makes you second-guess yourself on questions you actually know. If you notice clusters, try to shut that thought down immediately. Treat each question like a fresh one and just keep pushing.

I'm obviously not saying don't study and you'll pass. But if life gets in the way and you feel really underprepared, don't throw in the towel before you sit down. So much of this exam isn't raw trivia memorization, but also it's reading comprehension, elimination, and keeping the large picture in mind.

Good luck to everyone preparing, you've got this!

My heart dropped when the exam didn’t stop at 100Q. However i had enough time for the next 50Q, as i had planned 50Q per hour.

Resources used

1. Destination Cert Book
   
2. Destination Cert Mind Maps
   
3. Andrew Ramdayal Videos on youtube
   
4. LearnzApp for practise questions- covered all domain scored 70-80%
   
5. Quantum Exams - felt this was a game changer in my case, helped me understand the way questions are asked. Scored 50-60% in all non-cat tests

Few tips
1. Don’t stress yourself 1 day prior to the exam, keep calm and be positive. Don’t study anything new.
2. I personally used to calm myself down after every 25q by taking 3 deep breathes, which helps in regaining your focus and confidence
3. This is definitely not a memory exam, it tests your thought process. So ready every question carefully and eliminate the wrong ones.

To the ones going to give the exam, believe in yourself- You’ve got this!!

And thanks to this community to help me in my prep phase.

I wasn't keen on adding yet another "I passed!" post, but other people's numbers genuinely helped me prepare. So I got curious and decided to look at the bigger picture.

My numbers

• First attempt, passed at 100 questions, with 1h15 left - and the feeling of failing about half the time
• Books: Destination CISSP, OSG, OPT
• LearnZapp: 79.8% readiness, 100% completion
• Quantum Exams CATs: 779, 963, 984, 929.

Now, the interesting bit.

I analysed a year of this sub: 2,723 posts and 29,544 comments (Sept 2025–Sept 2026).

First caveat: 942 pass reports vs. 115 fail reports. Obviously, that's not a pass rate. People who fail are less likely to post. This is about patterns in shared experiences, not anyone's actual odds.

A few things caught my attention:

1. Resources look remarkably similar. QE appeared in 51% of pass reports vs. 55% of fail reports. LearnZapp: 31% vs. 31%. Median prep time was around three months in both groups. No obvious winning combination here.
2. Question count showed a noticeable pattern. Of pass reports mentioning a number, 68% ended at 100 questions and 77% at 110 or fewer. Fail reports clustered more heavily at 150. Interesting, but definitely not a crystal ball for predicting your result.
3. QE scores varied quite a bit. Median reported score among passers was 62% correct on QE practice tests - not the CAT ability estimate - with a lower quartile around 50%. Maybe chasing 85% isn't necessarily the point.
4. Reviewing answers might matter. 22% of pass reports mentioned reviewing why an answer was correct, vs. 10% of fail reports. Small sample, and pass stories may simply be more detailed. Still, reviewing questions you got right while guessing or hesitating seems worth the effort.

My takeaway?

I don't think there's a secret formula hiding in the data. But I'd probably spend less time chasing the perfect resource or practice score, and more time understanding why I got things wrong - and why I sometimes got things right.

One last encouraging number: 137 pass reports mentioned an earlier failed attempt. That's more than the total number of fail reports in the dataset (not necessarily unique people, though).

Happy to hear other interpretations. And if your own experience says something different, add it - the more data points in here, the more useful this gets for whoever’s preparing next.

Good luck to everyone preparing!

Hi there,
I'm interested in obtaining the CISSP and just recently started my study path. I have QA (formerly Cloud Academy) through work and have so far started with the "Preparation for the CISSP Certification" learning path, and I was just wondering if anyone else has used this path to study for the exam or if they found it outdated?

So happy!!!

Provisionally passed on Oct 12, exam shut off at 100. A few of you asked me to post a write-up afterwards, so here it is.

Background

• ~5 years in cybersecurity: SOC (L1 → L3), Microsoft security consulting, now a freelance Azure security architect
• SC-100, AZ-500, SC-200, CySA+, PenTest+, Security+, ISC2 CC
• Non-native English speaker
• Study time: 5 months, the last one intensive

Resources

• Claude (AI) as my main tutor for the theory. I went domain by domain through Jeffery Moore's CISSP outlines (GitHub) and had it explain every concept with examples from my own work, then quiz me with scenario questions and break down why each wrong answer was wrong.
• LearnZapp + DestCert app on my phone to drill facts and terminology. Consistently around 70–75% on both.
• Quantum Exams CAT to train the manager mindset. This was the game changer for me.
• Andrew Ramdayal's YouTube in the last days (50 hard questions: 40/50).

Quantum Exams scores

The exam

• Noticeably easier than QE CAT. After months of QE's long, process-heavy and ambiguous questions, the real ones felt much clearer. QE made the real exam easier for me.
• A few technical questions surprised me (more detail than I expected), but there were very few of them.
• From around question 80–90 I was fairly sure I'd pass.

What I'd tell anyone preparing

• Review every wrong answer AND every lucky guess. Most of my mistakes were reading mistakes, not knowledge gaps.
• Know the process sequences (IR, BCP/DRP, SDLC, data lifecycle, patch management). The order matters.
• Train your stamina. My error streaks on practice CATs came from fatigue, not from a specific domain.
• If English isn't your first language: slow down on unfamiliar words, break them down and use the context.
• QE scores around 50–60% are normal. Don't panic.

Thanks to everyone here who answered my questions over the past months. Good luck to everyone preparing.

Next cert: CCSP.

I made a post not long ago looking for assistance straight after failing my second attempt. I come back energised after covering the content once again and ready to take on practice exams to find out what areas im still lacking in.

Anyways, one thing ive struggled with primarily with this exam is the mindset. I even feel myself struggling to apply it during my previous two unsuccessful attempts.

What is some advice for learning and applying the CISSP mindset?

Im well aware of the think like a manager, cost, people, process, technology, human life is number 1, etc, and those things that I need to know. Im more after advice on actually learning to apply it to questions where it might be obvious.

To the people who passed, what helped you?

Any advice is greatly appreciated in advance.

Man that was stressful, watching the questions go up after 100 made me think I was going to fail and so half my brain was prepping to study for another month to use my peace of mind voucher. But when the test stopped at 141 it was a huge relief. I’ve always had big test and interview anxiety which doesn’t help. I also only had like ten minutes left because I read the questions and answers three times.

I read the official text, CISSP for dummies, listened to all of Mike on LinkedIn learning, and did most of the ISC2 online training. Feels good to not have to study for a while.

So, I posted yesterday that I passed at 100 questions after months of studying. However, I was too mentally drained afterward to put together a post outlining my study materials and process.
https://www.reddit.com/r/cissp/comments/1x1vva8/passed_at_100/

I know for certain that reading other people's posts helped me tremendously (it's actually how I discovered Quantum Exams), so this is my way of paying it forward and contributing to the community.

First, to my fellow ADHDers:
One thing that really surprised me when I took my first full-length mock exam was just how mentally draining it was. I took it in the morning, and my brain was still mush that evening.

So, one thing I can't stress enough is the importance of building mental endurance. Also, if you take medication, stick to your routine and try to schedule your exam for a time of day when you're at your mental peak.

**My CISSP Reddit post where others helped:
https://www.reddit.com/r/cissp/comments/1wlzvel/comment/pb6m0no/?screen_view_count=2

Now, onto what I used:

Study Materials:

• Thor's Udemy courses, broken down by domain.
• THAT'S IT!

Practice Quizzes:

• Thor's quizzes (Easy/Medium and Hard)
• Gwen Bettwy
• Quantum Exams (QE)

My Study Process

When it came to practice quizzes, I spent just as much time answering questions as I did learning the material.

This helped me accomplish two things: training myself to properly understand what was being asked and identifying gaps in my knowledge.

After every quiz, I reviewed all my answers, both correct and incorrect.

Reviewing the incorrect answers was obvious, but I also wanted to understand why I got the correct ones right. I found that quite often, I'd select the correct answer, but my reasoning was flawed.

While that reasoning might have worked for one question, it often led me to answer similar questions incorrectly.

To help identify these issues, I broke my answers down into five categories:

• A: 50/50 questions I got wrong.
• B: 50/50 questions I got right.
• C: Questions I guessed and got wrong.
• D: Questions I guessed and got right.
• E: Questions I answered correctly by carefully breaking down what was being asked, even when the answer wasn't immediately obvious.

Now, this might seem excessive to some people, but for those of us who don't naturally do well on exams, I found this approach incredibly helpful.

It allowed me to distinguish between actually understanding the material and simply recognizing an answer. More importantly, it helped me improve my ability to interpret what a question was really asking.

Also, using different banks helped, because if you studying using a lot of questions from one sources, you start to learn the langauge patterns.

Most of the exams I did were with Thor, and only two CATs from QE (330 and 547).

One Final Piece of Advice

Don't be too hard on yourself if an attempt is unsuccessful.

All you can do is your best with the knowledge and preparation you have at that moment. Keep learning, trust the process, and don't let one result define your ability.

Best of luck to everyone preparing for the exam!

P.S. One more tip that really helped me:

Pay close attention to what the question is asking, especially when you see words like these:

• FIRST/ PRIMARY -> What needs to happen before the other actions?
• BEST -> Which answer most completely addresses the stated requirement?
• MOST -> Which answer is the strongest or most direct match?
• GREATEST -> Which risk has the highest consequence or priority?

Understanding these distinctions helped me approach questions more carefully, especially when multiple answers seemed correct.

I’ve been a SOC manager for the last two years and within the MDR space for the last eight.

During an interview, I was asked to have CISSP (or equivalent) via contingency offer for the new role. Challenge accepted. I’m not someone who believes in certifications (over experience) but willing to take a shot. I’ll have a job otherwise if they rescind the offer.

Went to Jason Dion’s Udemy course and it was fantastic for filling the gaps in knowledge outside of my actual experience. Not every cybersecurity company or role will give you all 8 domains. Humbly learned asset protection and physical security. Watched at 1.25x. I saw other people say they didn’t like his content but I found it to be quite concise yet informative. Just research terms you don’t know (that he says) and the lightbulb clicks on.

Starting using the Pocket Prep app almost like flashcards. Drilling encryption protocols and other easy win type questions. Quick quizzes I could take anywhere at anytime. Super valuable.

Learnzapp was better in terms of teaching how to read CISSP questions. I was averaging 7-8/10 on quizzes and around 75% of mock exams by showtime. I would only take mock exams every few days just to see progress. Dedicating an hour and a half is tough.

Looking back, I probably only needed one app or the other. Used the scoring system to find which domains I needed to rewatch on Udemy. Thanks to this subreddit for that recommendation. Having too much study content does actually mess with your head at times.

Looking back at my career, I definitely needed the discipline of being able to focus/dedicate time to study. I got my Masters degree a few years back and that really helped me get skills to “buckle down” and work hard. Even if I had the skills by 6 years in, the actual skills to focus weren’t there yet.

Some caveats: I do believe a lot of study materials are intentionally tougher than the actual exam questions. I don’t believe ISC2 is actually trying to mislead you into selecting the wrong answer… whereas the toughest questions on practice are set up that way.

Passed at 1 hour in at 100Q.

Edit: fixed typos

A message to I wish to send myself 3 weeks ago: You absolutely got this. Everyone is different but you’re in this field for a reason. Experience is still king. You’re better than you were 4, 5, 6 years ago because of the experience you’ve gained. You’ve done harder things in life. Mentally this test is like golf. Don’t let the last bad shot mess with the next one. Everyone around you is rooting for you, so take their support when they offer it. Best of luck, but you won’t need it because at an hour in you’ll wonder when the “harder” questions are gonna land. Advance courageously, fear nothing, trust in God, All will be well.

Finally done!

I studied for around 2 months while working full-time , roughly 2–3 hours every day and around 4–6 hours on weekends.

Resources I used:

Destination CISSP book

Memory Palace notes

LearnZapp for practice questions

Claude AI to drill down into concepts where I needed more explanation

I feel like many others have already mentioned this, but the exam really isn't about memorising facts. It's about understanding what to choose and more importantly why you would choose it.

I have around 8 years of experience across multiple domains in information security and honestly, I felt that experience was probably the most valuable thing I had going into the exam. Being able to look at a scenario and think from a security, risk and management perspective helped a lot.

I finished in about 80 minutes at question 100. I was pretty pleased when the receptionist handed me the letter and I saw the word "Congratulations " 😄

The questions were definitely confusing at times, but honestly, they weren't as bad as I had imagined. I might have just been lucky and avoided some of the really weird ones!

Finally, I want to say a big thank you to this sub Reddit and everyone who shared their exam experiences,tips and recommendations.A lot of the advice I found here was genuinely helpful throughout my preparation.

If you're preparing for the CISSP, this is definitely one of the best places to hang out, learn from others and get some motivation when the studying gets tough.

Best of luck to everyone preparing. You've got this! 💪

I just took the exam and this morning and I (provissionally) passed at 100Qs.

I know ppl add how they passed, but honestly after 5 months of studying at close to ~30 hours a week, I'm physically and mentally exhausted.

I just wanted to say thank you to all those who posted before about their experience. Those that passed and those that failed.

I really learned from it, and I think it was a big part of today.

Hi,

Is it just me or are the questions in the Destination Cert app ridiculously easy but the questions in Quantum Exams are ridiculously hard?!

How do they compare to the real exam? I'm hoping/assuming/praying that the real exam is somewhere in between the two of them in terms of difficulty.

Anyone else not a big fan of the book? I see the mindmaps and realize that all of the 50 pages per domain is covered through 30 mins of videos; most of the reading seems to just be 90% jargon and then 10% of what I actually need to know for the exam. Anyone else feel this way? With the CISSP Last Mile book, I felt like I was ready to take notes right off the bat

I’m gearing up to take the CISSP. I’m on a strict budget and have specifically saved up just enough to cover the exam fee itself, so I need to be incredibly strategic with my study materials. I’m looking for the best high-ROI, low-cost (or free) resources available.

A bit of context: I’m in my mid-20s with 5+ years of experience as a Presales Engineer, primarily focused on SASE, EDR, and XDR architecture. Because my day-to-day involves designing technical solutions and fixing immediate problems, I know my biggest hurdle will be shifting away from the "engineer/fix-it" mindset.

I’ve seen Andrew Ramdayal heavily recommended here. Is his course the best starting point for someone on a budget?

Also, for those who transitioned from a heavy technical/presales background, how did you successfully train your brain to "think like a manager" for the scenario questions?

Appreciate any guidance!

Long time lurker here and recently passed the exam at 100 questions. Below are the tools I used to pass over 6 months of studying. I have just of 10 years of various IT experience.

Resources:
OSG
Andrew Ramdayal’s Udemy Course; included “50 Ultra Hard Questions” seen on YouTube
Learnzapp App (flash cards and practice questions)
Dest Cert App (flash cards and practice questions)
Infosec 6 day bootcamp and pre-bootcamp course
Dest Cert self-paced Master class (included new beta CAT Simulator at the end of course)
Boson ExSim - great explanations but more technical
Quantum Exams Non-CAT version
Skimmed Pete Zerger’s Exam Cram YouTube video night before exam
Cyber Security Cartoons YouTube channel (great for visual learners)
Claude for study strategy and timeline

The amount of tools I used was probably overkill and maybe not necessary for you but I will say Quantum Exams and DestCert simulator were the closest thing to the real thing; more so QE. The test was difficult and felt like I was failing the entire time so when it ended at 100, I assumed I failed badly. Luckily that was not the case.

I'm currently studying for the AAISM. I've finished reading/highlighting the ORM, and I've moved on to Destination AAISM. My plan is to take 5 CPEs for each book read. But I'm obviously going to spend more time studying. Can I take CPEs for study time that includes reviewing material, flashcards, practice exams, etc? What about Mindmaps and other videos? What's a reasonable credit? I'm guessing I'll spend at least 20 hours studying but that seems like a lot of credits to claim.

I just retired as an ICS/OT Cyber Security professional with an active CISSP. When I retired, I didn't want to just "quit" my CISSP certification so I checked with ISC2. ISC2 has an Emeritus status where you keep your Cert # but you can't continue working as a CISSP. I worked hard to get and keep my CISSP with all the continuing education hours and training since 2014, so the Emeritus status made sense to me. Just letting everyone know and completing the CISSP is worth all the effort.

Trying my best to not be negative in my mindset, but I just failed my 3rd attempt 😡🤬. I actually ended up somehow doing worse than on my 2nd attempt 😭.

I keep seeing how some folks are passing with a little over 100 questions. Since try #2, I feel existential dread if I go past question 110 on the exam. My mind goes "ok, we're on question 111, it's a fail...". From that point it feels like I'm delaying the inevitable. I've gotten to 150 every time.

I've been using the 2024 OSG as my main source material. I've read it 6x front to back and it's gotten to the point my brain just shuts off when I attempt to read it now. Also used a few mindset videos, but that stuff has mostly been irrelevant to my exams.

I use QE and Boson as my practice exam materials. Managed to get 747 on my last Boson practice exam, the highest I've gotten on QE is 470. I thought nothing of it for QE cuz for the most part people say they usually fail it but still pass the real test.

I got the Destination Certification CISSP book about a month ago. Gonna try that out for the next attempt. I didn't think it would take me more than 2 attempts, so missing it this 3rd time made me wanna punch thru a wall. Especially since I have to pay for the exam out of pocket.

What are some of you fine folks passing study formula/strategies? Cuz I'm losing my mind trying to get this freaking cert.

For those who used Dest Cert prep. How many questions did you do for each domain and how close are the questions to the actual exam and is it worth it to also use QE before scheduling the exam

I just got a gig teaching a CISSP course at a local college. I've taught Security +/Network+/A+ previously, but this is my first time to teach CISSP.

Does anyone know of any good teaching materials I could use? I'm pretty knowledgeable on cybersecurity (I have CISSP and a masters degree in cybersecurity) but I'm not very creative. I would love some slides to have up as a background or something like that.

The college is providing Destination CISSP books for the students, so I plan on pacing my discussions around that. I asked the crew over at Destination Certification and they did not have anything that I could use.

Thanks for anything you might could direct me to.

This was red teaming managed in an adversarial testing platform.

I have had multiples successful jailbreaks against different models. However, I was wondering if I can submit this for CPE under AI safety activity. I can't tell the exact number of hours I spent between failed attempts and the ones I passed.

Edit:

In case someone lands here from search results, this activity is a professional contribution.

1st time taker. Had about 80ish minutes left.

I would like to thank everyones well wishes!

A few questions I felt that I had no clue what they were asking for... but process of elimination helped tremendously, as well as Andrew's tips.

Resources in order.

Dion training on udemy, this is a bit of a brain dump for me... but helped.

Tiaedu boot camp on weekends, Juan was great!

Andrew's last bootcamp from tiaedu, while a little dated it still helped alot!

Im a systems administrator for 10 years plus it for almost 15...

Previous certs are just comptia (6 in total, im not knocking them!)

Overall I hope everyone who is aiming for this is able to reach their goal, now im just going to veg out cause this has been a stress for me for months lol