r/CCSP

Glad to share that I have passed the CCSP exam today.

Before CCSP, I have just recently taken and passed the CISSP exam in May. I decided to push forward and try the CCSP exam afterwards, as they have several domain overlaps and wanted to take advantage of the CISSP concepts that are still fresh in my mind.

I spent the weekends of June in studying and reviewing particularly for CCSP. I also decided to take the CCSP exam sooner than later to avoid the upcoming CCSP exam version update in August 1, 2026.

The exam process is pretty much the same with CISSP. But what surprised me is the level of difficulty of the CCSP exam compared to CISSP, at least for me. Maybe because all the cloud concepts and options have overlaps that appear the BEST/MOST appropriate answer for me during the exam. 😄

Coming to the exam, I was initially preparing to end at question #100. When it did not happen, I was thinking it would end anywhere before question #125. When it still did not happen, I started to get anxious with how the exam will turn out. When it hit question #130 with 45 minutes remaining, I was already preparing myself to fail the exam. I think I have never read yet of someone who went as far as this question number in the CCSP forums that I have visited. With already a near-failed resolve, I still went through question #131, #132, and then pooof! the magical survey screen appeared. 😂

As I went out of the test room, I was already consoling myself that I still have the peace of mind voucher for the second try. At least, I won't have to pay 599 USD again to retake it. 😂

After I went to the front desk and claimed the test result, I exclaimed a big sigh of relief after seeing that CONGRATULATIONS! on the first line of the paper. 😄

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So these are the study materials I used for my self-study (did not attend classroom or on-demand training), in case this will help others too:

1. CCSP Official Study Guide 3rd edition: Read the entire book and answered the chapter practice tests
2. CCSP Official Practice Tests 3rd edition: Answered all the practice tests online using the Wiley app.
3. Destination Certification: Read all the six free domain summaries in the website and answered all the domain quizzes in the DestCert mobile app

ROI for CCSP if you already have CISSP, CISA, and CISM and trying to get into Fedramp and leave on premises contractors ? Any Aws/Azure speciality certs you guys have ?

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.

Thrilled to share that I passed the CCSP today!

Cleared CISSP three weeks ago, and decided to keep the momentum going by taking on CCSP immediately after.

Coming from a security/risk/grc leadership background with limited hands‑on cloud experience, this exam definitely pushed me — many questions felt super tough and I honestly thought I didn’t make it until I saw the printout.

Study resources that helped me:
• Pocket Prep (~1000 questions, ~75% avg)
• LearnZapp (7 tests, ~80% avg)
• Pete Zerger’s 11‑hour CCSP exam cram
• Claude for concept reinforcement

Grateful for the support and guidance from the community.

I just passed the CCSP exam today! It ended after 100 questions, and I finished in about 2 hours.

For some background, I already hold the CCSP’s related certifications CISSP and CISM, along with several vendor certifications. I have 7 years of IT experience, including 4 years in cybersecurity.

One thing worth mentioning: I have never worked on a cloud project and have had virtually no hands-on cloud experience in my professional career.

Overall, I found the exam quite easy. I’d rate it around 4–5/10 in terms of difficulty.

In fact, it felt so easy that I started wondering if I was failing because of the CAT format. However, I remained confident throughout the exam and felt good when I walked out of the testing center.

Only about 10 questions were genuinely difficult. Compared to the CISSP, I found the CCSP significantly easier.

For preparation, I studied for about 2 months, averaging 1 hour per day.

My study resources were:

Destination Certification CCSP book

Destination Certification app (completed all questions)

Pocket Prep (about 500 questions)

Official practice tests

In my experience, these materials covered everything that appeared on the exam.

Good luck to everyone preparing for the CCSP!

Which is better for CCSP exam as practice test ?

1. Pocket Prep

2. Boson

3. Dest Cert

4. Learnzapp