yey! 1st attempt, passed @100!
Hello everyone!
I’m happy to share that I passed the CCSP exam with 100 questions and about 70 minutes remaining.
English is not my native language, so I apologize if anything sounds a bit off. I also recently passed CISSP, so I’m really glad I was able to earn both certifications.
This post is mainly aimed at those who have already passed CISSP, but I hope it can still be helpful. I’d like to share what I did to prepare for the CCSP exam.
＠My background
・3 years working in an IT department since graduating
・Passed CISSP at the end of March 2026 / Register as Associate
・Other certifications:
・International: LPIC Level 3 (Security), Oracle Certified Professional, Java Gold
・Japanese national certifications: Registered Information Security Specialist, Applied Information Technology Engineer, Fundamental Information Technology Engineer
＠Study period
・About 3 months (April 1 – June 24)
・~250 hours total
＠Exam difficulty
Compared to CISSP, I found CCSP noticeably easier in terms of question difficulty.
For CISSP, around 60–70% of the questions felt uncertain while answering.
But, for CCSP, many questions were more technical and felt similar to official practice questions.
Only about 10% made me think “what is this?”
＠Study approach
・0. CCSP Official Study Guide
・Used it as a reference to clarify unclear points during practice questions
・I don’t recommend reading it cover to cover; it’s better used like a dictionary
・1. Official ISC2 Japan free webinar videos
・Since I’m Japanese, I used these free webinars
・Watched all sessions from 2021–26 (~20 sessions, 1–2 hours each) and took notes
・2. CCSP Official Practice Tests (2 rounds)
・Honestly, I think you can pass if you go through this thoroughly
・Key points while practicing:
・Explain why each option is correct or incorrect.
Since the exact same questions won’t appear on the exam, simply grinding for speed is not effective.
Explaining each choice in your own words prevents memorization and builds real understanding.
・Learn all terms appearing in questions and choices
・Don’t just memorize terms — understand pros/cons and similar concepts.
Like CISSP, some questions are scenario based (though fewer), requiring you to choose the best
option depending on the situation. Going this deep helps you answer questions from different angles.
Example: Microservices architecture: Don’t just memorize “a design approach where software is split
into loosely coupled services communicating via APIs.” Also understand it in contrast with
monolithic architecture:
Easier parallel development due to loose coupling,
Scales per component based on load, Works well with cloud elasticity (resource scaling on demand),
Often discussed together with cloud architectures, More complex due to API integration...etc
＠CISSP / CCSP mindset
CISSP has the well-known concept of a “CISSP mindset.” This applies equally to CCSP. When multiple technically correct answers exist, this mindset helps you choose the best one based on context and constraints. In practice, the exam is about carefully reading the question, identifying requirements and constraints, and answering directly. But the decision making approach is the same as CISSP. This is also supported by ISC2 Japan’s official seminars, where the explanation of the “required mindset” for CCSP is identical to CISSP.
＠Time management tips **This is just my personal take!!**
The exam is 180 minutes for 100–150 questions.
Assuming the worst case (150 questions), you need to average about 1 minute per question.
It is essential to carefully read and interpret the questions to ensure the quality of your answers, but time management is also important.
Here are some tips:
・Track time every 10 questions
Write target times on your whiteboard every 10 questions.
This avoids constantly checking the clock and helps maintain focus.
・Skim the last sentence and choices first for long questions.
If you read a long question without knowing what’s being asked,
you may try to interpret everything and waste time.
Instead:
Quickly check the last sentence and answer choices,
Identify the question’s theme, Then read only what’s relevant.
CISSP/CCSP questions can hinge on a single word,
but they also include a lot of “flavor text” that doesn’t affect the answer.
Example: If the ques asks which control to implement (choices like CASB, IPS, WAF),
details like: “The company is a government organization with X employees” or
“Bob is a specialist in X” may not matter at all.
Recognizing irrelevant details early can significantly speed up reading.
It
Thank you for reading this long post.
I was able to pass both CISSP and CCSP thanks to this Reddit community.
I truly appreciate everyone who shared their experiences and insights.