Welcome to the exam tips and techniques for the
Certified in Cybersecurity examination.
The Certified in Cybersecurity certification was set up to test
whether or not we have the foundational knowledge required in the
area of information security management.
The exam outline,
which is produced by ISC2 lists all of the topics covered in
the Certified in Cybersecurity examination.
All of these areas are addressed by job task analysis
committees that take a look at what should you and I know to be
recognized as certified in cybersecurity.
I encourage you to download this from the website isc2.org.
ISC2 who owns this certification defines the Certified in
Cybersecurity as the ability to provide employers that you
have the foundational knowledge, skills,
and abilities necessary for an entry or junior‑level cybersecurity role.
It will signal your understanding of fundamental security best practices,
policies, and procedures,
as well as your willingness and ability to learn more and grow on the job.
The Certified in Cybersecurity certification
candidates include IT professionals, career changers,
college students or recent graduates,
and even advanced high school students or recent graduates.
The experience requirements to sit for this course
and exam are there aren't any.
There are no experience requirements required to pass and obtain
the Certified in Ccybersecurity designation.
However, having a basic IT knowledge could be very helpful.
We've seen that the exam is divided into five areas.
Security principles is weighted for 26% of the exam,
business continuity, disaster recovery, and incident response for 10%,
access control concepts, 22%, network security,
24%, and security operations, 18%.
In preparing for the Certified in Cybersecurity exam,
it's a good idea to go through that exam outline and be able to describe,
whether it's to a friend or someone else, what the topics are.
What does this topic mean?
It's good to be familiar with every single topic because every
topic listed in those five areas is testable and may well show
up as a test question on the exam.
It is good to go through all of the course modules.
There could be a few that now you're very comfortable with,
but maybe you'll learn something or have something
tied together that could help you.
So even areas that you're familiar with could be good just to review quickly.
I always encourage people to write notes.
You may never look at the notes again.
Or if your handwriting is like mine, you may not even be able to read them.
But the very act of writing it down helps cement it into our mind and
greatly improves our retention rate of the material.
It's also good to do the sample questions.
There are sample questions after each of the course domains and,
of course, the post assessment.
When it comes to doing sample questions,
sample questions have been proven to be a poor way to learn because all
they do is teach us this is the answer to that question.
But they are a very good way to ensure that we have
correctly understood the topic.
Many people start to memorize definitions, and that's not a good idea.
Most of the questions on the examination will be about applying our knowledge,
not just having the knowledge.
So just memorization of definitions could leave us
in a bit of a hard way actually.
It's much more important to understand what those concepts are,
what are they really trying to do when they talked about
those concepts in the exam outline,
and how would I apply those in real‑world situations?
Then, choose the best answer.
You notice we don't say choose the right answer because
there could be more than one right answer.
But choose the best of the ones provided.
The question is, of course, whether or not the best answer is even there.
There could be an answer you're looking for that's
not even one of the ones listed.
So be ready for that.
They're testing to see whether or not we have some depth of knowledge.
And therefore, we have to choose the best of the ones that are provided.
And of course, relax, take a deep breath, and move on.
Don't worry about it and fight and how did I do on the previous questions.
No.
Quite simply, you've done your best.
Move on.
In the examination itself, you'll face 100 questions.
They are all multiple guess.
Sorry, they're all multiple choice.
And of course, I like to say multiple guess because,
in some cases, that's what you may do.
You may look at something and say I don't know, but that's fine.
You have knowledge and experience.
You've gone through the course.
Now use your analytical skills and say, okay,
if I break down this question, what is it really trying to ask?
And then let's look at all four of the answers and see which is the
one we think would be the best for that question.
Now,
there's a very good chance there could be a couple of
questions on there you don't like.
That just happens.
But don't fight it and don't worry about it.
Give it your best shot, and in the end, move on.
You only need to score 700 points out of a possible 1000.
So there is some room there to have a few errors, of course.
You have 2 hours to do 100 questions,
so you've got plenty of time actually to go through questions,
read them carefully,
read all four answers. Consider them because it could
well be that one of the latter answers, say answer C or D,
was actually better than answer A.
Answer A was right,
but we needed to read all four so we make sure we chose
the best of the ones that was listed.
This exam is only available in English and will be
conducted through Pearson VUE test centers.
Becoming a Certified in Cybersecurity.
Well, first of all, pass the exam.
In most cases, you'll be allowed two attempts.
Even if a person does not manage to pass on their first attempt,
they will be able to try again.
Now, we're not sure how long that will last.
But for now, that's what they're offering.
Then you apply for certification.
You'll receive an email from ISC2 that says congratulations.
You passed the exam.
Now fill out this form to actually apply to become a Certified in Cybersecurity.
You have to agree to abide by the ISC2 code of ethics, and there is a small
annual maintenance fee associated with this certification. For further
information, it's good to go back to ISC2 again,
download the Ultimate Guide to the Entry‑Level Cybersecurity Certification.
This has the most up‑to‑date information on the exam and
some advice on how to prepare as well.
It's available as well at isc2.org.
The next steps. It's important to go back over the exam outline.
Make sure we review and understand each topic area.
Don't just memorize. Do the sample questions provided in the study guide.
And of course, do the post‑course assessment as well.
Set an exam date and plan your study time.