Program.” Good luck with your studies!
Best Regards,
David P. Shearer, CISSP, PMP
CEO
(ISC)2
To Cathy, your perspective on the world and life often surprises me, challenges me, and makes me love you even more.
To Dewitt Latimer, my mentor, friend, and colleague. I miss you dearly.
To Nimfa: Thanks for sharing your life with me for the past 23 years and letting me share mine with you.
Acknowledgments
I’d like to express my thanks to Sybex for continuing to support this project. Thanks to Mike Chapple and Darril Gibson for continuing to contribute to this project. Thanks also to all my CISSP course students who have provided their insight and input to improve my training courseware and ultimately this tome. Extra thanks to the seventh edition developmental editor, Alexa Murphy, and technical editor, David Seidl, who performed amazing feats in guiding us to improve this book. Thanks as well to my agent, Carole Jelen, for continuing to assist in nailing down these projects.
To my adoring wife, Cathy: Building a life and a family together has been more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. To Slayde and Remi: You are growing up so fast and learning at an outstanding pace, and you continue to delight and impress me daily. You are both growing into amazing individuals. To my mom, Johnnie: It is wonderful to have you close by. To Mark: No matter how much time has passed or how little we see each other, I have been and always will be your friend. And finally, as always, to Elvis: You were way ahead of the current bacon obsession, with your peanut butter-banana-bacon sandwich; I think that’s proof you traveled through time!
Special thanks go to the information security team at the University of Notre Dame, who provided hours of interesting conversation and debate on security issues that inspired and informed much of the material in this book.
I would like to thank the team at Wiley who provided invaluable assistance throughout the book development process. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my literary agent, Carole Jelen of Waterside Productions. My coauthors, James Michael Stewart and Darril Gibson, were great collaborators. David Seidl, our diligent and knowledgeable technical editor, provided valuable insight as we brought this edition to press.
I’d also like to thank the many people who participated in the production of this book but whom I never had the chance to meet: the graphics team, the production staff, and all of those involved in bringing this book to press.
Thanks to Carol Long and Carole Jelen for helping get this update in place before (ISC)2 released the objectives. This helped us get a head start on this new edition and we appreciate your efforts. It’s been a pleasure working with talented people like James Michael Stewart and Mike Chapple. Thanks to both of you for all your work and collaborative efforts on this project. The technical editor, Dave Seidl, provided us with some outstanding feedback and this book is better because of his efforts. Thanks again, David. Last, thanks to the team at Sybex (including project managers, editors, and graphics artists) for all the work you did helping us get this book to print.
About the Authors
James Michael Stewart, CISSP, has been writing and training for more than 20 years, with a current focus on security. He has been teaching CISSP training courses since 2002, not to mention other courses on Internet security and ethical hacking/penetration testing. He is the author of and contributor to more than 75 books and numerous courseware sets on security certification, Microsoft topics, and network administration. More information about Michael can be found at his website:www.impactonline.com.
Mike Chapple, CISSP, Ph.D., is Senior Director for IT Service Delivery at the University of Notre Dame. In the past, he was chief information officer of Brand Institute and an information security researcher with the National Security Agency and the U.S. Air Force. His primary areas of expertise include network intrusion detection and access controls. Mike is a frequent contributor to TechTarget’s SearchSecurity site and the author of more than 25 books including CompTIA Security+ Training Kit and Information Security Illuminated. Mike can be found on Twitter @mchapple.
Darril Gibson, CISSP, is the CEO of YCDA, LLC (short for You Can Do Anything) and he has authored or coauthored more than 35 books. Darril regularly writes, consults, and teaches on a wide variety of technical and security topics and holds several certifications. He regularly posts blog articles at http://blogs.getcertifiedgetahead.com/ about certification topics and uses that site to help people stay abreast of changes in certification exams. He loves hearing from readers, especially when they pass an exam after using one of his books, and you can contact him through the blogging site.
Introduction
The CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional Study Guide, Seventh Edition, offers you a solid foundation for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) exam. By purchasing this book, you’ve shown a willingness to learn and a desire to develop the skills you need to achieve this certification. This introduction provides you with a basic overview of this book and the CISSP exam.
This book is designed for readers and students who want to study for the CISSP certification exam. If your goal is to become a certified security professional, then the CISSP certification and this study guide are for you. The purpose of this book is to adequately prepare you to take the CISSP exam.
Before you dive into this book, you need to have accomplished a few tasks on your own. You need to have a general understanding of IT and of security. You should have the necessary five years of full-time paid work experience (or four years if you have a college degree) in two or more of the eight domains covered by the CISSP exam. If you are qualified to take the CISSP exam according to (ISC)2, then you are sufficiently prepared to use this book to study for it. For more information on (ISC)2, see the next section.
The CISSP exam is governed by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC)2. (ISC)2 is a global not-for-profit organization. It has four primary mission goals:
■ Maintain the Common Body of Knowledge (CBK) for the field of information systems security.
■ Provide certification for information systems security professionals and practitioners.
■ Conduct certification training and administer the certification exams.
■ Oversee the ongoing accreditation of qualified certification candidates through continued education.
The (ISC)2 is operated by a board of directors elected from the ranks of its certified practitioners.
(ISC)2 supports and provides a wide variety of certifications, including CISSP, SSCP, CAP, CSSLP, CCFP, HCISPP, and CCSP. These certifications are designed to verify the knowledge and skills of IT security professionals across all industries. You can obtain more information about (ISC)2
