From 2be43cc479dfd4cfb621f14381330c708291e324 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Christian Cleberg Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2024 19:46:20 -0500 Subject: conversion from Zola to Weblorg --- content/blog/2021-12-04-cisa.md | 193 ---------------------------------------- 1 file changed, 193 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 content/blog/2021-12-04-cisa.md (limited to 'content/blog/2021-12-04-cisa.md') diff --git a/content/blog/2021-12-04-cisa.md b/content/blog/2021-12-04-cisa.md deleted file mode 100644 index 88e5d1b..0000000 --- a/content/blog/2021-12-04-cisa.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,193 +0,0 @@ -+++ -date = 2021-12-04 -title = "I Passed the CISA!" -description = "" -draft = false -+++ - -# What is the CISA? - -For those of you lucky enough not to be knee-deep in the world of IT/IS -Auditing, [CISA](https://www.isaca.org/credentialing/cisa) stands for Certified -Information Systems Auditor. This certification and exam are part of ISACA's -suite of certifications. As I often explain it to people like my family, it -basically means you're employed to use your knowledge of information systems, -regulations, common threats, risks, etc. in order to assess an organization's -current control of their risk. If a risk isn't controlled (and the company -doesn't want to accept the risk), an IS auditor will suggest implementing a -control to address that risk. - -Now, the CISA certification itself is, in my opinion, the main certification for -this career. While certifications such as the CPA or CISSP are beneficial, -nothing matches the power of the CISA for an IS auditor when it comes to getting -hired, getting a raise/bonus, or earning respect in the field. - -However, to be honest, I am a skeptic of most certifications. I understand the -value they hold in terms of how much you need to commit to studying or learning -on the job, as well as the market value for certifications such as the CISA. But -I also have known some very ~~incompetent~~ _less than stellar_ auditors who -have CPAs, CISAs, CIAs, etc. - -The same goes for most industries: if a person is good at studying, they can -earn the certification. However, that knowledge means nothing unless you're -actually able to use it in real life and perform as expected of a certification -holder. The challenge comes when people are hired or connected strictly because -of their certifications or resume; you need to see a person work before you can -assume them having a CISA means they're better than someone without the CISA. - -Okay, rant over. Certifications are generally accepted as a measuring stick of -commitment and quality of an employee, so I am accepting it too. - -# Exam Content - -The CISA is broken down into five sections, each weighted with a percentage of -test questions that may appear. - -Since the exam contains 150 questions, here's how those sections break down: - -| Exam Section | Percentage of Exam | Questions | -| --------------- | ------------------ | --------- | -| 1 | 21% | 32 | -| 2 | 17% | 26 | -| 3 | 12% | 18 | -| 4 | 23% | 34 | -| 5 | 27% | 40 | -| **Grand Total** | **100%** | **150** | - -# My Studying Habits - -This part is a little hard for me to break down into specific detail due to the -craziness of the last year. While I officially purchased my studying materials -in December 2020 and opened them to "start studying" in January 2021, I really -wasn't able to study much due to the demands of my job and personal life. - -Let me approach this from a few different viewpoints. - -## Study Materials - -Let's start by discussing the study materials I purchased. I'll be referring to -#1 as the CRM and #2 as the QAE. - -1. [CISA Review Manual, 27th Edition | - Print](https://store.isaca.org/s/store#/store/browse/detail/a2S4w000004KoCbEAK) -2. [CISA Review Questions, Answers & Explanations Manual, 12th Edition | - Print](https://store.isaca.org/s/store#/store/browse/detail/a2S4w000004KoCcEAK) - -The CRM is an excellent source of information and could honestly be used as a -reference for most IS auditors as a learning reference during their daily audit -responsibilities. However, it is **full** of information and can be overloading -if you're not good at filtering out useless information while studying. - -The QAE is the real star of the show here. This book contains 1000 questions, -separated by exam section, and a practice exam. My only complaint about the QAE -is that each question is immediately followed with the correct answer and -explanations below it, which means I had to use something to constantly cover -the answers while I was studying. - -I didn't use the online database version of the QAE, but I've heard that it's -easier to use than the printed book. However, it is more expensive ($299 -database vs $129 book) which might be important if you're paying for materials -yourself. - -In terms of question difficulty, I felt that the QAE was a good representation -of the actual exam. I've seen a lot of people online say it wasn't accurate to -the exam or that it was much easier/harder, but I disagree with all of those. -The exam was fairly similar to the QAE, just focusing on whichever topics they -chose for my version of the exam. - -If you understand the concepts, skim the CRM (and read in-depth on topics you -struggle with), and use the QAE to continue practicing exam-like questions, you -should be fine. I didn't use any online courses, videos, etc. - the ISACA -materials are more than enough. - -## Studying Process - -While I was able to briefly read through sections 1 and 2 in early 2021, I had -to stop and take a break from February/March to September. I switched jobs in -September, which allowed me a lot more free time to study. - -In September, I studied sections 3-5, took notes, and did a quick review of the -section topics. Once I felt comfortable with my notes, I took a practice exam -from the QAE manual and scored 70% (105/150). - -Here's a breakdown of my initial practice exam: - -| Exam Section | Incorrect | Correct | Grand Total | Percent | -| --------------- | --------- | ------- | ----------- | ------- | -| 1 | 8 | 25 | 33 | 76% | -| 2 | 5 | 20 | 25 | 80% | -| 3 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 67% | -| 4 | 10 | 23 | 33 | 70% | -| 5 | 16 | 25 | 41 | 61% | -| **Grand Total** | **45** | **105** | **150** | **70%** | - -As I expected, my toughest sections were related to project management, -development, implementation, and security. - -This just leaves October and November. For these months, I tried to practice -every few days, doing 10 questions for each section, until the exam. This came -out to 13 practice sessions, ~140 questions per section, and ~700 questions -total. - -While some practice sessions were worse and some were better, the final results -were similar to my practice exam results. As you can see below, my averages were -slightly worse than my practice exam. However, I got in over 700 questions of -practice and, most importantly, _I read through the explanations every time I -answered incorrectly and learned from my mistakes_. - -| Exam Section | Incorrect | Correct | Grand Total | Percent | -| --------------- | --------- | ------- | ----------- | ------- | -| 1 | 33 | 108 | 141 | 77% | -| 2 | 33 | 109 | 142 | 77% | -| 3 | 55 | 89 | 144 | 62% | -| 4 | 52 | 88 | 140 | 63% | -| 5 | 55 | 85 | 140 | 61% | -| **Grand Total** | **228** | **479** | **707** | **68%** | - -# Results - -Now, how do the practice scores reflect my actual results? After all, it's hard -to tell how good a practice regimen is unless you see how it turns out. - -| Exam Section | Section Name | Score | -| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ----- | -| 1 | Information Systems Auditing Process | 678 | -| 2 | Governance and Management of IT | 590 | -| 3 | Information Systems Acquisition, Development, and Implementation | 721 | -| 4 | Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience | 643 | -| 5 | Protection of Information Assets | 511 | - -Now, in order to pass the CISA, you need at least 450 on a sliding scale of -200-800. Personally, I really have no clue what an average CISA score is. After -a _very_ brief look online, I can see that the high end is usually in the low -700s. In addition, only about 50-60% of people pass the exam. - -Given this information, I feel great about my scores. 616 may not be phenomenal, -and I wish I had done better on sections 2 & 5, but my practicing seems to have -worked very well overall. - -However, the practice results do not conform to the actual results. Section 2 -was one of my highest practice sections and was my second-lowest score in the -exam. Conversely, section 3 was my second-lowest practice section and turned out -to be my highest actual score! - -After reflecting, it is obvious that if you have any background on the CISA -topics at all, the most important part of studying is doing practice questions. -You really need to understand how to read the questions critically and pick the -best answer. - -# Looking Forward - -I am extremely happy that I was finally able to pass the CISA. Looking to the -future, I'm not sure what's next in terms of professional learning. My current -company offers internal learning courses, so I will most likely focus on that if -I need to gain more knowledge in certain areas. - -To be fair, even if you pass the CISA, it's hard to become an expert on any -specific topic found within. My career may take me in a different direction, and -I might need to focus more on security or networking certifications (or possibly -building a better analysis/visualization portfolio if I want to go into data -analysis/science). - -All I know is that I am content at the moment and extremely proud of my -accomplishment. -- cgit v1.2.3-70-g09d2