Your tactics of approaching the answer can be as important as having
the knowledge and competency to address the topic.
Each question should be read so that you parse each word
and not summarize. The question stems should be read twice
along with the answer stem.
You can quickly eliminate reading and comprehension errors in this
way. Let's discuss some guidelines for answering questions with some
realistic questions from the CCSP topics.
If you want to take your time and practice,
pause the video and reflect on your answers.
The first principle is if you are given a generic question,
select a generic answer.
If you're given a specific question, select a specific answer.
See how you can apply that guideline to this question.
The services you are consuming from your cloud platform appear
to be struggling to meet the minimum performance you pay for.
As a provider of cloud services,
which configuration element would directly affect the guaranteed
resources for what you are being charged? You can pause the video
if you'd like to reflect on the answer.
A contract and SLA are tools used to provide an expectation of services, but
you note that neither of them is a configuration element.
This is a specific question that needs a specific answer if the question were
what management element sets expectation of services rendered? Then the big
fish of SLA would eat the little fish of the reservations. Guideline two,
eliminate answers that are nonsensical or wrong.
Some brain health reasons for this include getting clutter out of your mind.
Like any other capability that your body produces from energy,
your brain needs rest, and it's no exception. If you've ever taken
an exam and after a few hours of engaging it,
you may have thought to yourself, I honestly don't care if I pass
the exam or not at this point, you've experienced the finite energy
allocated to your brain for that period.
Keep this in mind as you go through the next point. Point
number three, follow where you are in the stream of time and
don't let yourself outside of that.
What may be an appropriate activity or response in the answer stem may be the
wrong answer based upon where you are in the line of time.
See if you can apply that principle to this question.
Your organization wants to verify that the controls that you have applied
to the services you are consuming from your cloud provider meet business,
regulatory, and best practice requirements.
The audit process will most definitely require testing to
prove the effectiveness of the controls.
What should you do first? Recall the previous guideline
about eliminating nonsensical answers.
One of these answers can be immediately eliminated.
Which one would you remove?
C is extreme and all encompassing. Be concerned
about words like always and never.
The fourth principle is don't respond with the variable to an answer.
We talked about this earlier with the middle question
in life. Respond with the standard.
Don't add or subtract from the context.
Stay within the borders and the framing designed in the question. Don't
induce possibilities beyond what is included in the body in the
scenario of the question. Review this question.
Your organization is interested in a new cloud service provider.
They have a service you've been looking for that more completely fits your
business requirements than all the other providers you've reviewed. While
your company's senior management doesn't have concerns about their
technology controls, they are concerned that the company has only started
doing business in the last four months.
What type of audit report would most appropriately address this
concern? Again, you can pause the video if you'd like to ponder the
question. Note that the organization has no concerns about the
technical controls. That would eliminate B through D, stay within
the context of the scenario.
The organization has decided, not you. Looking at their controls over
financial reporting will illuminate their potential longevity. Point
number five, don't concern yourself with memorizing specific document
names and numbers. An expected challenge on the exam will be that you
are questioned on principles from one framework or guideline that you
will find in many.
Let's consider this next question.
A controller and organization consuming services on a cloud provider's
platform and managing customers' data uses data beyond the agreement of when
the customer first signed up for the service. In particular, the controller
allows a partner organization to use the customer data to perform statistical
analysis of a given population set.
They have not informed their customers. What element of the code of practice
for protection of personally identifiable information in public clouds
ISO27018:2019 has been violated? You can pause the video if you would like to
ponder your answer. Consent will be an element that is always evident within
any framework related to privacy.
Knowing the principles from all guidelines is essential.
Knowing the specific guideline is not. Point number six, use
reconciliation of reversing operators or linchpins like the word
except, the word not, the word best.
I will respond in my mind or notepaper with everything that is
the operator within a question like not.
That's how I reconcile the answer.
Let's take a look at another question.
The root account connected to the management console for
your company appears to have recorded a suspicious login
from an unexpected location.
After determining from the administrator team that no one
used the root account to access the console,
they meet with the security team to determine the next steps.
What is the best recommendation for safeguarding root
account access? You can pause the video if you would like
to reflect on the correct answer.
The other answers are legitimate, but the one that is best for
the context provided is to get multifactor access. Principle
number seven is extremely important.
Don't change answers unless you've read the answer
stem or question stem incorrectly.
The science of test taking related to what's known as psychometrics informs us
that an answer selected initially happens through logic.
When we revisit and change the answer,
it is typically driven by anxiety or fear of the unknown. Point number eight,
the last guideline, is if an answer is in doubt, throw it out.
It may be a real thing placed in the wrong context or the wrong sequence.
Be sure to look at the study guide posted for this course as it
includes helpful links for the exam outlines, current and future, and a
link to ISC2 flashcards and other exam prep information you can get for
free. No matter how deeply connected you are to the information, the
questions will be stated in a way that may look unfamiliar. But recall
the principles of what you study, and you can manage through any
complexity.
Thanks for joining me on this brief journey of exam review and tips for
CCSP, wishing you success in your CCSP certification challenge and I hope
to see you again on the Pluralsight platform.