Master the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) exam with our comprehensive Q&A collection. Review questions by topic, understand explanations, and build confidence for exam day.
Strategies to help you tackle Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) exam questions effectively
Allocate roughly 1-2 minutes per question. Flag difficult questions and return to them later.
Pay attention to keywords like 'MOST', 'LEAST', 'NOT', and 'EXCEPT' in questions.
Use elimination to narrow down choices. Often 1-2 options can be quickly ruled out.
Focus on understanding why answers are correct, not just memorizing facts.
Practice with real exam-style questions for Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
Risk appetite is the broad-based amount of risk an organization is willing to accept in pursuit of its mission and objectives. It represents the organization's strategic approach to risk-taking. Risk tolerance refers to the acceptable deviation from risk appetite for specific objectives. Residual risk is what remains after controls are applied. Inherent risk is the risk that exists before any controls are implemented.
Chain of custody is the chronological documentation that records the sequence of custody, control, transfer, analysis, and disposition of evidence. It ensures evidence integrity and admissibility in legal proceedings by proving the evidence has not been tampered with. Legal hold is a process to preserve evidence. Evidence volatility refers to how quickly data can be lost. Forensic integrity is not a standard term in digital forensics.
Residual risk is the risk that remains after security controls have been implemented. It represents the risk an organization accepts after applying countermeasures. Total risk is the combined risk before controls. Inherent risk is the natural level of risk before controls. Secondary risk is a new risk created by implementing a control or response to another risk.
Physical destruction through shredding, pulverizing, or incinerating storage media provides the highest assurance that data cannot be recovered because the media itself is destroyed. Degaussing is effective for magnetic media but not SSDs. Overwriting can be effective but sophisticated recovery techniques may still retrieve data. Cryptographic erasure is efficient but relies on proper key management and encryption implementation.
The data owner is the person responsible for classifying data assets. The data owner is typically a senior manager or business unit leader who has authority over the data and understands its value and sensitivity to the organization. Data custodians are responsible for implementing and maintaining controls specified by the owner. Security administrators implement technical controls. The CISO provides oversight but doesn't classify individual data assets.
Review Q&A organized by exam domains to focus your study
15% of exam • 3 questions
What is the primary purpose of Security and Risk Management in Cybersecurity?
Security and Risk Management serves as a fundamental component in Cybersecurity, providing essential capabilities for managing, configuring, and optimizing (ISC)² solutions. Understanding this domain is crucial for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.
Which best practice should be followed when implementing Security and Risk Management?
When implementing Security and Risk Management, follow the principle of least privilege, ensure proper documentation, implement monitoring and logging, and regularly review configurations. These practices help maintain security and operational excellence.
How does Security and Risk Management integrate with other (ISC)² services?
Security and Risk Management integrates seamlessly with other (ISC)² services through APIs, shared authentication, and native connectors. This integration enables comprehensive solutions that leverage multiple services for optimal results.
10% of exam • 3 questions
What is the primary purpose of Asset Security in Cybersecurity?
Asset Security serves as a fundamental component in Cybersecurity, providing essential capabilities for managing, configuring, and optimizing (ISC)² solutions. Understanding this domain is crucial for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.
Which best practice should be followed when implementing Asset Security?
When implementing Asset Security, follow the principle of least privilege, ensure proper documentation, implement monitoring and logging, and regularly review configurations. These practices help maintain security and operational excellence.
How does Asset Security integrate with other (ISC)² services?
Asset Security integrates seamlessly with other (ISC)² services through APIs, shared authentication, and native connectors. This integration enables comprehensive solutions that leverage multiple services for optimal results.
13% of exam • 3 questions
What is the primary purpose of Security Architecture and Engineering in Cybersecurity?
Security Architecture and Engineering serves as a fundamental component in Cybersecurity, providing essential capabilities for managing, configuring, and optimizing (ISC)² solutions. Understanding this domain is crucial for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.
Which best practice should be followed when implementing Security Architecture and Engineering?
When implementing Security Architecture and Engineering, follow the principle of least privilege, ensure proper documentation, implement monitoring and logging, and regularly review configurations. These practices help maintain security and operational excellence.
How does Security Architecture and Engineering integrate with other (ISC)² services?
Security Architecture and Engineering integrates seamlessly with other (ISC)² services through APIs, shared authentication, and native connectors. This integration enables comprehensive solutions that leverage multiple services for optimal results.
13% of exam • 3 questions
What is the primary purpose of Communication and Network Security in Cybersecurity?
Communication and Network Security serves as a fundamental component in Cybersecurity, providing essential capabilities for managing, configuring, and optimizing (ISC)² solutions. Understanding this domain is crucial for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.
Which best practice should be followed when implementing Communication and Network Security?
When implementing Communication and Network Security, follow the principle of least privilege, ensure proper documentation, implement monitoring and logging, and regularly review configurations. These practices help maintain security and operational excellence.
How does Communication and Network Security integrate with other (ISC)² services?
Communication and Network Security integrates seamlessly with other (ISC)² services through APIs, shared authentication, and native connectors. This integration enables comprehensive solutions that leverage multiple services for optimal results.
13% of exam • 3 questions
What is the primary purpose of Identity and Access Management in Cybersecurity?
Identity and Access Management serves as a fundamental component in Cybersecurity, providing essential capabilities for managing, configuring, and optimizing (ISC)² solutions. Understanding this domain is crucial for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.
Which best practice should be followed when implementing Identity and Access Management?
When implementing Identity and Access Management, follow the principle of least privilege, ensure proper documentation, implement monitoring and logging, and regularly review configurations. These practices help maintain security and operational excellence.
How does Identity and Access Management integrate with other (ISC)² services?
Identity and Access Management integrates seamlessly with other (ISC)² services through APIs, shared authentication, and native connectors. This integration enables comprehensive solutions that leverage multiple services for optimal results.
12% of exam • 3 questions
What is the primary purpose of Security Assessment and Testing in Cybersecurity?
Security Assessment and Testing serves as a fundamental component in Cybersecurity, providing essential capabilities for managing, configuring, and optimizing (ISC)² solutions. Understanding this domain is crucial for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.
Which best practice should be followed when implementing Security Assessment and Testing?
When implementing Security Assessment and Testing, follow the principle of least privilege, ensure proper documentation, implement monitoring and logging, and regularly review configurations. These practices help maintain security and operational excellence.
How does Security Assessment and Testing integrate with other (ISC)² services?
Security Assessment and Testing integrates seamlessly with other (ISC)² services through APIs, shared authentication, and native connectors. This integration enables comprehensive solutions that leverage multiple services for optimal results.
13% of exam • 3 questions
What is the primary purpose of Security Operations in Cybersecurity?
Security Operations serves as a fundamental component in Cybersecurity, providing essential capabilities for managing, configuring, and optimizing (ISC)² solutions. Understanding this domain is crucial for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.
Which best practice should be followed when implementing Security Operations?
When implementing Security Operations, follow the principle of least privilege, ensure proper documentation, implement monitoring and logging, and regularly review configurations. These practices help maintain security and operational excellence.
How does Security Operations integrate with other (ISC)² services?
Security Operations integrates seamlessly with other (ISC)² services through APIs, shared authentication, and native connectors. This integration enables comprehensive solutions that leverage multiple services for optimal results.
11% of exam • 3 questions
What is the primary purpose of Software Development Security in Cybersecurity?
Software Development Security serves as a fundamental component in Cybersecurity, providing essential capabilities for managing, configuring, and optimizing (ISC)² solutions. Understanding this domain is crucial for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.
Which best practice should be followed when implementing Software Development Security?
When implementing Software Development Security, follow the principle of least privilege, ensure proper documentation, implement monitoring and logging, and regularly review configurations. These practices help maintain security and operational excellence.
How does Software Development Security integrate with other (ISC)² services?
Software Development Security integrates seamlessly with other (ISC)² services through APIs, shared authentication, and native connectors. This integration enables comprehensive solutions that leverage multiple services for optimal results.
After reviewing these questions and answers, challenge yourself with our interactive practice exams. Track your progress and identify areas for improvement.
Common questions about the exam format and questions
The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) exam typically contains 50-65 questions. The exact number may vary, and not all questions may be scored as some are used for statistical purposes.
The exam includes multiple choice (single answer), multiple response (multiple correct answers), and scenario-based questions. Some questions may include diagrams or code snippets that you need to analyze.
Questions are weighted based on the exam domain weights. Topics with higher percentages have more questions. Focus your study time proportionally on domains with higher weights.
Yes, most certification exams allow you to flag questions for review and return to them before submitting. Use this feature strategically for difficult questions.
Practice questions are designed to match the style, difficulty, and topic coverage of the real exam. While exact questions won't appear, the concepts and question formats will be similar.
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