Security News > 2005 > June > REVIEW: "CISSP Exam Notes", K. Wan
Forwarded from: "Rob, grandpa of Ryan, Trevor, Devon & Hannah" BKCISPEN.RVW 20050330 "CISSP Exam Notes", K. Wan, 2003, 988-97323-1-9, U$24.95 %A K. Wan kplab () pacific net hk %C Hong Kong %D 2003 %G 988-97323-1-9 %I KP Lab Limited %O U$24.95 http://www.kp-lab.com/ %O http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=91-9889732319-0 %O Audience i- Tech 2 Writing 1 (see revfaq.htm for explanation) %P 196 p. (PDF ebook) %T "CISSP Exam Notes - All you need to pass the exam" This appears to be a self-published ebook, available from the author, in PDF format. Despite the fact that an ebook softcopy could readily be edited, it has not been updated in the two years since it was published: some of the CISSP requirements have changed since then, and the book does not reflect that. The ten domains of the CISSP CBK (Common Body of Knowledge) are covered in ten chapters, with the material provided in point form. The structure and flow of the material bears a striking resemblance to the slides in the (ISC)^2 CISSP review seminar. However, given minor discrepancies, I suspect that the book is not directly based on the (ISC)^2 slides, but rather on another course that, itself, was based on the (ISC)^2 CBK review seminar. (In response to the initial draft of this review, the author responded that his ebook was based on the other books that followed the course outline, rather than on the course itself.) (Wan's company, KP Lab, seems to be restricted to producing training guides for various certifications.) As noted, the points in the book follow the structure of the course slides. There is usually a sentence or phrase expanding or explaining each point from the Common Body of Knowledge listing, so the material is slightly longer than the subject outline that is available from the (ISC)^2 site. The explanations are, however, briefer even than those in the first edition of "The CISSP Prep Guide" by Krutz and Vines (cf. BKCISPPG.RVW), which is, itself, one of the tersest guides on the market. As with that work, and other similar texts, if you do not already know the content, this tome will not help you very much. Unlike most other CISSP study guides, there are no "sample" questions. Overall, the points are reasonably well selected. (The section on malware is very disappointing, and the section on legal concepts is rather weak.) The material is more up-to-date than any other besides the "Official (ISC)^2 Guide to the CISSP Exam" (cf. BKOIGTCE.RVW). In terms of books dealing with an overall familiarization with the topics to be covered on the CISSP exam, this one does have an advantage in price, and in speed of access. (I requested a copy directly from the author by email, and got it within two hours. If, for example, you are in a boot camp course situation, you may need all the help you can get, quickly.) copyright Robert M. Slade, 2005 BKCISPEN.RVW 20050330 ====================== (quote inserted randomly by Pegasus Mailer) rslade () vcn bc ca slade () victoria tc ca rslade () sun soci niu edu E Pluribus Modem http://victoria.tc.ca/techrev or http://sun.soci.niu.edu/~rslade _________________________________________ Attend the Black Hat Briefings and Training, Las Vegas July 23-28 - 2,000+ international security experts, 10 tracks, no vendor pitches. www.blackhat.com