Useful but not enough on its own, 05 Jan 2009
I bought this and the official book as preparation for the exam (passed0. I also went on a course.

Everyone on the course who expressed an opinion said that the "official" book was unreadable and that the Shon Harris book was much better. On the other hand, I read the entire official book and thought that the Shon Harris book was incomprehensible at times - maybe most of the attendees were "techies". There was stuff in the official book that wasn't in the Shon Harris book. On the other hand there was also stuff in the Shon Harris book that wasn't in the official book. Both books had a lot more material than was in the course notes.

I thought that the official book was easier to read (different from all the views expressed on the course and on Amazon) but that the Shon Harris book had better section summaries and practice questions. But then I bought both together (a small discount on Amazon).


Neither of the books have "scenario" type practice questions which now feature in the actual exam.

So I would recommend it as a buy, but it isn't enough on its own.



Poor structure and style, 01 Jan 2009
The book is fairly comprehensive, but I found the structure of the section headings made it very difficult to read. In contrast to the Exam Cram and Sybex books, there is little "this is really important" highlighting critical areas. The CD questions accompanying the book are good. The jokey style becomes annoying after your 4th re-read during revision. As it is a huge hardback, carrying it around is a real pain. I eventually purchased the Sybex / Stewart CISSP book and found that a better learning tool, although at a much higher price.

Comprehensive, but a slightly disappointing update, 09 Nov 2008
I bought this book having passed CISSP 3 years ago using the second edition as my main reference. The fourth edition is significantly thicker, and has clearly been updated with a good amount of new material.

Some niggles I had with it though:
- the practice questions do not seem to have been updated, which means that the new material has not made it into the practice questions, and they don't reflect any changes in the exam (e.g. the new 'scenario based' questions). In my opinion the questions form a very important part of the book since they are key to preparing for the exam and measuring progress in understanding the topics.
- there are some annoying errata in the new material. For example BS7799 is referred to as BS7700 in one place, and the error is repeated in the Quick Tips at the end of the chapter. The same section refers to the "future" renaming of ISO 17799 to 27002. This happened mid-2007 and the book was published in 2008.

Having said that, this book still contains a massively comprehensive coverage of the CISSP course in a style which is never too dry and always very readable. Which in itself is an impressive achievement with such a range of technical subjects. As well as the new technical material many of the 'real world' discussions have also been brought up to date in light of recent events.

In summary I think that this book is going to do the job again as my main reference for the CISSP exam and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone preparing for the CISSP exam. I just wish it had some new questions for me to try.

Useful but not enough on its own, 05 Jan 2009
I bought this and the official book as preparation for the exam (passed0. I also went on a course.

Everyone on the course who expressed an opinion said that the "official" book was unreadable and that the Shon Harris book was much better. On the other hand, I read the entire official book and thought that the Shon Harris book was incomprehensible at times - maybe most of the attendees were "techies". There was stuff in the official book that wasn't in the Shon Harris book. On the other hand there was also stuff in the Shon Harris book that wasn't in the official book. Both books had a lot more material than was in the course notes.

I thought that the official book was easier to read (different from all the views expressed on the course and on Amazon) but that the Shon Harris book had better section summaries and practice questions. But then I bought both together (a small discount on Amazon).


Neither of the books have "scenario" type practice questions which now feature in the actual exam.

So I would recommend it as a buy, but it isn't enough on its own.



Poor structure and style, 01 Jan 2009
The book is fairly comprehensive, but I found the structure of the section headings made it very difficult to read. In contrast to the Exam Cram and Sybex books, there is little "this is really important" highlighting critical areas. The CD questions accompanying the book are good. The jokey style becomes annoying after your 4th re-read during revision. As it is a huge hardback, carrying it around is a real pain. I eventually purchased the Sybex / Stewart CISSP book and found that a better learning tool, although at a much higher price.

Comprehensive, but a slightly disappointing update, 09 Nov 2008
I bought this book having passed CISSP 3 years ago using the second edition as my main reference. The fourth edition is significantly thicker, and has clearly been updated with a good amount of new material.

Some niggles I had with it though:
- the practice questions do not seem to have been updated, which means that the new material has not made it into the practice questions, and they don't reflect any changes in the exam (e.g. the new 'scenario based' questions). In my opinion the questions form a very important part of the book since they are key to preparing for the exam and measuring progress in understanding the topics.
- there are some annoying errata in the new material. For example BS7799 is referred to as BS7700 in one place, and the error is repeated in the Quick Tips at the end of the chapter. The same section refers to the "future" renaming of ISO 17799 to 27002. This happened mid-2007 and the book was published in 2008.

Having said that, this book still contains a massively comprehensive coverage of the CISSP course in a style which is never too dry and always very readable. Which in itself is an impressive achievement with such a range of technical subjects. As well as the new technical material many of the 'real world' discussions have also been brought up to date in light of recent events.

In summary I think that this book is going to do the job again as my main reference for the CISSP exam and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone preparing for the CISSP exam. I just wish it had some new questions for me to try.

a great starting point, 31 Dec 2008
If you're thinking about studying for CISSP, this is a good place to start. Use it as a scoping exercise, to get a feel for the breadth and (to a lesser extent) the depth of the exam.
Some sections (particularly those on legal aspects) are some way adrift of the current ISC2 focus, and the book doesn't go into the depth needed, or the rationale regarding significance, of any of the domains - so in that respect, the book can be misleading. Also, the test questions are not very representative of the exam itself (and if you've not done this sort of professional exam before, you'll need to do _lots_ of test questions, from as many sources as possible).
A qualified recommendation. (see my review of Shon Harris' book also)

A reasonable overview but sketchy in places, 30 Jun 2005
This book is an accessible introduction to information security for the CISSP exam. The jokey tone may grate on some readers. All domains are covered, some better than others. There is more detail on telecommunications than most areas, as is only appropriate. The law domain addresses US law almost exclusively and makes some very bad slips such as using criminal law terms when discussing civil law.

Most readers will want to use this as a support to their studies rather than the central plank: for that the official guide from (ISC)2 would be far better (as it should be being far longer).

An excellent primer, 26 May 2003
The CISSP requires you to know a great deal of information, this book doesn't contain it all however it does make the information it provides very accesible. I read through this book to understand all the concepts and issues then moved onto a another book to fill in the gaps. That said, I do feel that this is an excellent primer book and a great first sweep through the 10 CBK domains.

Useful but not enough on its own, 05 Jan 2009
I bought this and the official book as preparation for the exam (passed0. I also went on a course.

Everyone on the course who expressed an opinion said that the "official" book was unreadable and that the Shon Harris book was much better. On the other hand, I read the entire official book and thought that the Shon Harris book was incomprehensible at times - maybe most of the attendees were "techies". There was stuff in the official book that wasn't in the Shon Harris book. On the other hand there was also stuff in the Shon Harris book that wasn't in the official book. Both books had a lot more material than was in the course notes.

I thought that the official book was easier to read (different from all the views expressed on the course and on Amazon) but that the Shon Harris book had better section summaries and practice questions. But then I bought both together (a small discount on Amazon).


Neither of the books have "scenario" type practice questions which now feature in the actual exam.

So I would recommend it as a buy, but it isn't enough on its own.



Poor structure and style, 01 Jan 2009
The book is fairly comprehensive, but I found the structure of the section headings made it very difficult to read. In contrast to the Exam Cram and Sybex books, there is little "this is really important" highlighting critical areas. The CD questions accompanying the book are good. The jokey style becomes annoying after your 4th re-read during revision. As it is a huge hardback, carrying it around is a real pain. I eventually purchased the Sybex / Stewart CISSP book and found that a better learning tool, although at a much higher price.

Comprehensive, but a slightly disappointing update, 09 Nov 2008
I bought this book having passed CISSP 3 years ago using the second edition as my main reference. The fourth edition is significantly thicker, and has clearly been updated with a good amount of new material.

Some niggles I had with it though:
- the practice questions do not seem to have been updated, which means that the new material has not made it into the practice questions, and they don't reflect any changes in the exam (e.g. the new 'scenario based' questions). In my opinion the questions form a very important part of the book since they are key to preparing for the exam and measuring progress in understanding the topics.
- there are some annoying errata in the new material. For example BS7799 is referred to as BS7700 in one place, and the error is repeated in the Quick Tips at the end of the chapter. The same section refers to the "future" renaming of ISO 17799 to 27002. This happened mid-2007 and the book was published in 2008.

Having said that, this book still contains a massively comprehensive coverage of the CISSP course in a style which is never too dry and always very readable. Which in itself is an impressive achievement with such a range of technical subjects. As well as the new technical material many of the 'real world' discussions have also been brought up to date in light of recent events.

In summary I think that this book is going to do the job again as my main reference for the CISSP exam and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone preparing for the CISSP exam. I just wish it had some new questions for me to try.

a great starting point, 31 Dec 2008
If you're thinking about studying for CISSP, this is a good place to start. Use it as a scoping exercise, to get a feel for the breadth and (to a lesser extent) the depth of the exam.
Some sections (particularly those on legal aspects) are some way adrift of the current ISC2 focus, and the book doesn't go into the depth needed, or the rationale regarding significance, of any of the domains - so in that respect, the book can be misleading. Also, the test questions are not very representative of the exam itself (and if you've not done this sort of professional exam before, you'll need to do _lots_ of test questions, from as many sources as possible).
A qualified recommendation. (see my review of Shon Harris' book also)

A reasonable overview but sketchy in places, 30 Jun 2005
This book is an accessible introduction to information security for the CISSP exam. The jokey tone may grate on some readers. All domains are covered, some better than others. There is more detail on telecommunications than most areas, as is only appropriate. The law domain addresses US law almost exclusively and makes some very bad slips such as using criminal law terms when discussing civil law.

Most readers will want to use this as a support to their studies rather than the central plank: for that the official guide from (ISC)2 would be far better (as it should be being far longer).

An excellent primer, 26 May 2003
The CISSP requires you to know a great deal of information, this book doesn't contain it all however it does make the information it provides very accesible. I read through this book to understand all the concepts and issues then moved onto a another book to fill in the gaps. That said, I do feel that this is an excellent primer book and a great first sweep through the 10 CBK domains.

Excellent reference book although quite dry, 06 Nov 2007
I attended a 2 day CISSP review seminar delivered by Kevin Henry and thoroughly enjoyed it. I used this book as a reference while using Shon Harris All In One Guide (3rd Ed) as my primary study book and passed the exam in one go. The Official Guide is an excellent reference book but is a very dry read as the chapters are in the form of essays written by experts in the infosec field. So from the CISSP preparation viewpoint it'll take a very determined person to use this book as a primary source and read it from cover to cover. However this book serves well as a secondary reference book while preparing for CISSP. Also the questions on the DVD and glossary are excellent towards CISSP preparation and must be done before taking the exam.

All in all a very good secondary reference book. I would've given it 5 stars had the style been more interesting and a bit easy to read.

Best CISSP Preparation Material, 16 Oct 2007
2 colleagues and myself attended a CISSP CBK preparation course conducted by K.Henry from ISC2, it was excellent training by Kevin. After that, we had the ISC2 preparation guide (by K.Henry too) and Shon's All-In-One. We also went through Dr.Krutz's prep exam questions. I feel this is an excellent combination. Shon's book is very informative and readable. No unnecessary jokes like "the Dummy" series yet the presentation is lively enough. ISC2 official guide gave a good review of the syllabus and useful questions after every chapter. All 3 of us passed the exam at first trial after 1 month of preparation, the feeling is just too good! A BIG Thank you to Shon and Kevin!

Useful but not enough on its own, 05 Jan 2009
I bought this and the official book as preparation for the exam (passed0. I also went on a course.

Everyone on the course who expressed an opinion said that the "official" book was unreadable and that the Shon Harris book was much better. On the other hand, I read the entire official book and thought that the Shon Harris book was incomprehensible at times - maybe most of the attendees were "techies". There was stuff in the official book that wasn't in the Shon Harris book. On the other hand there was also stuff in the Shon Harris book that wasn't in the official book. Both books had a lot more material than was in the course notes.

I thought that the official book was easier to read (different from all the views expressed on the course and on Amazon) but that the Shon Harris book had better section summaries and practice questions. But then I bought both together (a small discount on Amazon).


Neither of the books have "scenario" type practice questions which now feature in the actual exam.

So I would recommend it as a buy, but it isn't enough on its own.



Poor structure and style, 01 Jan 2009
The book is fairly comprehensive, but I found the structure of the section headings made it very difficult to read. In contrast to the Exam Cram and Sybex books, there is little "this is really important" highlighting critical areas. The CD questions accompanying the book are good. The jokey style becomes annoying after your 4th re-read during revision. As it is a huge hardback, carrying it around is a real pain. I eventually purchased the Sybex / Stewart CISSP book and found that a better learning tool, although at a much higher price.

Comprehensive, but a slightly disappointing update, 09 Nov 2008
I bought this book having passed CISSP 3 years ago using the second edition as my main reference. The fourth edition is significantly thicker, and has clearly been updated with a good amount of new material.

Some niggles I had with it though:
- the practice questions do not seem to have been updated, which means that the new material has not made it into the practice questions, and they don't reflect any changes in the exam (e.g. the new 'scenario based' questions). In my opinion the questions form a very important part of the book since they are key to preparing for the exam and measuring progress in understanding the topics.
- there are some annoying errata in the new material. For example BS7799 is referred to as BS7700 in one place, and the error is repeated in the Quick Tips at the end of the chapter. The same section refers to the "future" renaming of ISO 17799 to 27002. This happened mid-2007 and the book was published in 2008.

Having said that, this book still contains a massively comprehensive coverage of the CISSP course in a style which is never too dry and always very readable. Which in itself is an impressive achievement with such a range of technical subjects. As well as the new technical material many of the 'real world' discussions have also been brought up to date in light of recent events.

In summary I think that this book is going to do the job again as my main reference for the CISSP exam and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone preparing for the CISSP exam. I just wish it had some new questions for me to try.

a great starting point, 31 Dec 2008
If you're thinking about studying for CISSP, this is a good place to start. Use it as a scoping exercise, to get a feel for the breadth and (to a lesser extent) the depth of the exam.
Some sections (particularly those on legal aspects) are some way adrift of the current ISC2 focus, and the book doesn't go into the depth needed, or the rationale regarding significance, of any of the domains - so in that respect, the book can be misleading. Also, the test questions are not very representative of the exam itself (and if you've not done this sort of professional exam before, you'll need to do _lots_ of test questions, from as many sources as possible).
A qualified recommendation. (see my review of Shon Harris' book also)

A reasonable overview but sketchy in places, 30 Jun 2005
This book is an accessible introduction to information security for the CISSP exam. The jokey tone may grate on some readers. All domains are covered, some better than others. There is more detail on telecommunications than most areas, as is only appropriate. The law domain addresses US law almost exclusively and makes some very bad slips such as using criminal law terms when discussing civil law.

Most readers will want to use this as a support to their studies rather than the central plank: for that the official guide from (ISC)2 would be far better (as it should be being far longer).

An excellent primer, 26 May 2003
The CISSP requires you to know a great deal of information, this book doesn't contain it all however it does make the information it provides very accesible. I read through this book to understand all the concepts and issues then moved onto a another book to fill in the gaps. That said, I do feel that this is an excellent primer book and a great first sweep through the 10 CBK domains.

Excellent reference book although quite dry, 06 Nov 2007
I attended a 2 day CISSP review seminar delivered by Kevin Henry and thoroughly enjoyed it. I used this book as a reference while using Shon Harris All In One Guide (3rd Ed) as my primary study book and passed the exam in one go. The Official Guide is an excellent reference book but is a very dry read as the chapters are in the form of essays written by experts in the infosec field. So from the CISSP preparation viewpoint it'll take a very determined person to use this book as a primary source and read it from cover to cover. However this book serves well as a secondary reference book while preparing for CISSP. Also the questions on the DVD and glossary are excellent towards CISSP preparation and must be done before taking the exam.

All in all a very good secondary reference book. I would've given it 5 stars had the style been more interesting and a bit easy to read.

Best CISSP Preparation Material, 16 Oct 2007
2 colleagues and myself attended a CISSP CBK preparation course conducted by K.Henry from ISC2, it was excellent training by Kevin. After that, we had the ISC2 preparation guide (by K.Henry too) and Shon's All-In-One. We also went through Dr.Krutz's prep exam questions. I feel this is an excellent combination. Shon's book is very informative and readable. No unnecessary jokes like "the Dummy" series yet the presentation is lively enough. ISC2 official guide gave a good review of the syllabus and useful questions after every chapter. All 3 of us passed the exam at first trial after 1 month of preparation, the feeling is just too good! A BIG Thank you to Shon and Kevin!

Good exam aid, 01 Jan 2009
This is a good CISSP revision aid, although I supplemented this with a number of other books and web research. The book is well written in short, easily digestible chapters, with revision questions at each section. The only fault that I have found is an erroneous reference to ISO 17799, which any fule knows has been replaced with 27002 (as another reviewer pointed out on the Shon Harris book). In contrast to the hardbacks, this is relatively easy to carry around, although it is still a weighty read.

Useful but not enough on its own, 05 Jan 2009
I bought this and the official book as preparation for the exam (passed0. I also went on a course.

Everyone on the course who expressed an opinion said that the "official" book was unreadable and that the Shon Harris book was much better. On the other hand, I read the entire official book and thought that the Shon Harris book was incomprehensible at times - maybe most of the attendees were "techies". There was stuff in the official book that wasn't in the Shon Harris book. On the other hand there was also stuff in the Shon Harris book that wasn't in the official book. Both books had a lot more material than was in the course notes.

I thought that the official book was easier to read (different from all the views expressed on the course and on Amazon) but that the Shon Harris book had better section summaries and practice questions. But then I bought both together (a small discount on Amazon).


Neither of the books have "scenario" type practice questions which now feature in the actual exam.

So I would recommend it as a buy, but it isn't enough on its own.



Poor structure and style, 01 Jan 2009
The book is fairly comprehensive, but I found the structure of the section headings made it very difficult to read. In contrast to the Exam Cram and Sybex books, there is little "this is really important" highlighting critical areas. The CD questions accompanying the book are good. The jokey style becomes annoying after your 4th re-read during revision. As it is a huge hardback, carrying it around is a real pain. I eventually purchased the Sybex / Stewart CISSP book and found that a better learning tool, although at a much higher price.

Comprehensive, but a slightly disappointing update, 09 Nov 2008
I bought this book having passed CISSP 3 years ago using the second edition as my main reference. The fourth edition is significantly thicker, and has clearly been updated with a good amount of new material.

Some niggles I had with it though:
- the practice questions do not seem to have been updated, which means that the new material has not made it into the practice questions, and they don't reflect any changes in the exam (e.g. the new 'scenario based' questions). In my opinion the questions form a very important part of the book since they are key to preparing for the exam and measuring progress in understanding the topics.
- there are some annoying errata in the new material. For example BS7799 is referred to as BS7700 in one place, and the error is repeated in the Quick Tips at the end of the chapter. The same section refers to the "future" renaming of ISO 17799 to 27002. This happened mid-2007 and the book was published in 2008.

Having said that, this book still contains a massively comprehensive coverage of the CISSP course in a style which is never too dry and always very readable. Which in itself is an impressive achievement with such a range of technical subjects. As well as the new technical material many of the 'real world' discussions have also been brought up to date in light of recent events.

In summary I think that this book is going to do the job again as my main reference for the CISSP exam and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone preparing for the CISSP exam. I just wish it had some new questions for me to try.

a great starting point, 31 Dec 2008
If you're thinking about studying for CISSP, this is a good place to start. Use it as a scoping exercise, to get a feel for the breadth and (to a lesser extent) the depth of the exam.
Some sections (particularly those on legal aspects) are some way adrift of the current ISC2 focus, and the book doesn't go into the depth needed, or the rationale regarding significance, of any of the domains - so in that respect, the book can be misleading. Also, the test questions are not very representative of the exam itself (and if you've not done this sort of professional exam before, you'll need to do _lots_ of test questions, from as many sources as possible).
A qualified recommendation. (see my review of Shon Harris' book also)

A reasonable overview but sketchy in places, 30 Jun 2005
This book is an accessible introduction to information security for the CISSP exam. The jokey tone may grate on some readers. All domains are covered, some better than others. There is more detail on telecommunications than most areas, as is only appropriate. The law domain addresses US law almost exclusively and makes some very bad slips such as using criminal law terms when discussing civil law.

Most readers will want to use this as a support to their studies rather than the central plank: for that the official guide from (ISC)2 would be far better (as it should be being far longer).

An excellent primer, 26 May 2003
The CISSP requires you to know a great deal of information, this book doesn't contain it all however it does make the information it provides very accesible. I read through this book to understand all the concepts and issues then moved onto a another book to fill in the gaps. That said, I do feel that this is an excellent primer book and a great first sweep through the 10 CBK domains.

Excellent reference book although quite dry, 06 Nov 2007
I attended a 2 day CISSP review seminar delivered by Kevin Henry and thoroughly enjoyed it. I used this book as a reference while using Shon Harris All In One Guide (3rd Ed) as my primary study book and passed the exam in one go. The Official Guide is an excellent reference book but is a very dry read as the chapters are in the form of essays written by experts in the infosec field. So from the CISSP preparation viewpoint it'll take a very determined person to use this book as a primary source and read it from cover to cover. However this book serves well as a secondary reference book while preparing for CISSP. Also the questions on the DVD and glossary are excellent towards CISSP preparation and must be done before taking the exam.

All in all a very good secondary reference book. I would've given it 5 stars had the style been more interesting and a bit easy to read.

Best CISSP Preparation Material, 16 Oct 2007
2 colleagues and myself attended a CISSP CBK preparation course conducted by K.Henry from ISC2, it was excellent training by Kevin. After that, we had the ISC2 preparation guide (by K.Henry too) and Shon's All-In-One. We also went through Dr.Krutz's prep exam questions. I feel this is an excellent combination. Shon's book is very informative and readable. No unnecessary jokes like "the Dummy" series yet the presentation is lively enough. ISC2 official guide gave a good review of the syllabus and useful questions after every chapter. All 3 of us passed the exam at first trial after 1 month of preparation, the feeling is just too good! A BIG Thank you to Shon and Kevin!

Good exam aid, 01 Jan 2009
This is a good CISSP revision aid, although I supplemented this with a number of other books and web research. The book is well written in short, easily digestible chapters, with revision questions at each section. The only fault that I have found is an erroneous reference to ISO 17799, which any fule knows has been replaced with 27002 (as another reviewer pointed out on the Shon Harris book). In contrast to the hardbacks, this is relatively easy to carry around, although it is still a weighty read.

Too Complicated, 18 Nov 2003
If you are serious about the CISSP I would not recommend this book.
It is far too complicated and does not explain the concepts very well

I would strongly advise people to go for CISSP all in one by Shon Harris. This book is well written with plenty of examples

Useful but not enough on its own, 05 Jan 2009
I bought this and the official book as preparation for the exam (passed0. I also went on a course.

Everyone on the course who expressed an opinion said that the "official" book was unreadable and that the Shon Harris book was much better. On the other hand, I read the entire official book and thought that the Shon Harris book was incomprehensible at times - maybe most of the attendees were "techies". There was stuff in the official book that wasn't in the Shon Harris book. On the other hand there was also stuff in the Shon Harris book that wasn't in the official book. Both books had a lot more material than was in the course notes.

I thought that the official book was easier to read (different from all the views expressed on the course and on Amazon) but that the Shon Harris book had better section summaries and practice questions. But then I bought both together (a small discount on Amazon).


Neither of the books have "scenario" type practice questions which now feature in the actual exam.

So I would recommend it as a buy, but it isn't enough on its own.



Poor structure and style, 01 Jan 2009
The book is fairly comprehensive, but I found the structure of the section headings made it very difficult to read. In contrast to the Exam Cram and Sybex books, there is little "this is really important" highlighting critical areas. The CD questions accompanying the book are good. The jokey style becomes annoying after your 4th re-read during revision. As it is a huge hardback, carrying it around is a real pain. I eventually purchased the Sybex / Stewart CISSP book and found that a better learning tool, although at a much higher price.

Comprehensive, but a slightly disappointing update, 09 Nov 2008
I bought this book having passed CISSP 3 years ago using the second edition as my main reference. The fourth edition is significantly thicker, and has clearly been updated with a good amount of new material.

Some niggles I had with it though:
- the practice questions do not seem to have been updated, which means that the new material has not made it into the practice questions, and they don't reflect any changes in the exam (e.g. the new 'scenario based' questions). In my opinion the questions form a very important part of the book since they are key to preparing for the exam and measuring progress in understanding the topics.
- there are some annoying errata in the new material. For example BS7799 is referred to as BS7700 in one place, and the error is repeated in the Quick Tips at the end of the chapter. The same section refers to the "future" renaming of ISO 17799 to 27002. This happened mid-2007 and the book was published in 2008.

Having said that, this book still contains a massively comprehensive coverage of the CISSP course in a style which is never too dry and always very readable. Which in itself is an impressive achievement with such a range of technical subjects. As well as the new technical material many of the 'real world' discussions have also been brought up to date in light of recent events.

In summary I think that this book is going to do the job again as my main reference for the CISSP exam and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone preparing for the CISSP exam. I just wish it had some new questions for me to try.

a great starting point, 31 Dec 2008
If you're thinking about studying for CISSP, this is a good place to start. Use it as a scoping exercise, to get a feel for the breadth and (to a lesser extent) the depth of the exam.
Some sections (particularly those on legal aspects) are some way adrift of the current ISC2 focus, and the book doesn't go into the depth needed, or the rationale regarding significance, of any of the domains - so in that respect, the book can be misleading. Also, the test questions are not very representative of the exam itself (and if you've not done this sort of professional exam before, you'll need to do _lots_ of test questions, from as many sources as possible).
A qualified recommendation. (see my review of Shon Harris' book also)

A reasonable overview but sketchy in places, 30 Jun 2005
This book is an accessible introduction to information security for the CISSP exam. The jokey tone may grate on some readers. All domains are covered, some better than others. There is more detail on telecommunications than most areas, as is only appropriate. The law domain addresses US law almost exclusively and makes some very bad slips such as using criminal law terms when discussing civil law.

Most readers will want to use this as a support to their studies rather than the central plank: for that the official guide from (ISC)2 would be far better (as it should be being far longer).

An excellent primer, 26 May 2003
The CISSP requires you to know a great deal of information, this book doesn't contain it all however it does make the information it provides very accesible. I read through this book to understand all the concepts and issues then moved onto a another book to fill in the gaps. That said, I do feel that this is an excellent primer book and a great first sweep through the 10 CBK domains.

Excellent reference book although quite dry, 06 Nov 2007
I attended a 2 day CISSP review seminar delivered by Kevin Henry and thoroughly enjoyed it. I used this book as a reference while using Shon Harris All In One Guide (3rd Ed) as my primary study book and passed the exam in one go. The Official Guide is an excellent reference book but is a very dry read as the chapters are in the form of essays written by experts in the infosec field. So from the CISSP preparation viewpoint it'll take a very determined person to use this book as a primary source and read it from cover to cover. However this book serves well as a secondary reference book while preparing for CISSP. Also the questions on the DVD and glossary are excellent towards CISSP preparation and must be done before taking the exam.

All in all a very good secondary reference book. I would've given it 5 stars had the style been more interesting and a bit easy to read.

Best CISSP Preparation Material, 16 Oct 2007
2 colleagues and myself attended a CISSP CBK preparation course conducted by K.Henry from ISC2, it was excellent training by Kevin. After that, we had the ISC2 preparation guide (by K.Henry too) and Shon's All-In-One. We also went through Dr.Krutz's prep exam questions. I feel this is an excellent combination. Shon's book is very informative and readable. No unnecessary jokes like "the Dummy" series yet the presentation is lively enough. ISC2 official guide gave a good review of the syllabus and useful questions after every chapter. All 3 of us passed the exam at first trial after 1 month of preparation, the feeling is just too good! A BIG Thank you to Shon and Kevin!

Good exam aid, 01 Jan 2009
This is a good CISSP revision aid, although I supplemented this with a number of other books and web research. The book is well written in short, easily digestible chapters, with revision questions at each section. The only fault that I have found is an erroneous reference to ISO 17799, which any fule knows has been replaced with 27002 (as another reviewer pointed out on the Shon Harris book). In contrast to the hardbacks, this is relatively easy to carry around, although it is still a weighty read.

Too Complicated, 18 Nov 2003
If you are serious about the CISSP I would not recommend this book.
It is far too complicated and does not explain the concepts very well

I would strongly advise people to go for CISSP all in one by Shon Harris. This book is well written with plenty of examples

Good exam aid, 01 Jan 2009
This is a good CISSP revision aid, although I supplemented this with a number of other books and web research. The book is well written in short, easily digestible chapters, with revision questions at each section. The only fault that I have found is an erroneous reference to ISO 17799, which any fule knows has been replaced with 27002 (as another reviewer pointed out on the Shon Harris book). In contrast to the hardbacks, this is relatively easy to carry around, although it is still a weighty read.