Introduction

Over the past several years, security practitioners around the world have begun pursuing a now well-known and highly regarded professional credential: the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

In turn, security-minded companies have been actively seeking individuals who have earned the coveted CISSP certification. It has surpassed the demand for many vendor-sponsored technical certifications and is widely held as the professional standard in the information security field.

About This Book

Our goals in this book are simple: to help you prepare for and pass the CISSP examination, and to guide you after you earn the certification. Although we’ve stuffed it chock-full of good information, we don’t expect that this book will be a weighty desktop reference on the shelf of every security professional - although we certainly wouldn’t object.

And this isn’t the Library of Congress. We don’t intend for this book to be an all-purpose, be-all-to-end-all, one-stop shop with all the answers to life’s great mysteries. Given the broad base of knowledge required for the CISSP certification, we strongly recommend using multiple resources to prepare for the exam. This book will provide you with a road map to the CISSP certification and sufficient information to help you pass the exam. It will not make you a security expert - or help you build pumped-up forearms!

As a security professional, you’ll find that earning the CISSP certification is only a beginning. Business and technology, with their associated risks and vulnerabilities, require each of us as security professionals to constantly press forward, consuming vast volumes of knowledge and information in a constant tug of war against the bad guys. Thus, when preparing for your CISSP certification, you should study as much relevant information as your time and resources allow. CISSP For Dummies provides the blueprint for your study effort and gives you some great experience practicing for the test to boot.