8 original questions — no sign-up

Free CISSP Exam Questions and Practice Test, with Answers

Try one original scenario from each of the eight current CISSP domains. Open every answer for the reasoning, review the current CAT exam facts, then decide whether the full Udemy mock-exam course fits your study plan. Also searched as a CISSP practice exam, CISSP dumps alternative, or ISC2 CISSP training — this page covers the same current CISSP certification.

Eligibility and role alignment

Who the CISSP Certification Is For

ISC2 positions CISSP for experienced professionals who design, implement and manage an organization-wide information security program. Named target roles include security manager, security analyst, security architect, security auditor, IT director/manager, security systems engineer, chief information security officer and security consultant.

Experience requirement

ISC2 currently requires five cumulative years of paid, full-time work experience in two or more of the eight CISSP domains. A four-year degree, or an approved credential such as Security+ or CCNA Security, waives one year of that requirement.

Associate pathway

A candidate who passes without the required experience may become an Associate of ISC2 and has six years from the exam-pass date to earn the five years of required experience. Always confirm qualifying work and substitutions directly with ISC2.

Current official weighting

CISSP Domains and Weights

Security and Risk Management carries the largest single weight; the remaining seven domains are weighted between 10% and 13%. Give the higher-weighted domains proportionally more study time, then confirm against the official outline before your exam date.

1Security and Risk Management — policy, governance, compliance, risk and BCP/DR fundamentals.16%
2Asset Security — data classification, ownership, retention and privacy protection.10%
3Security Architecture and Engineering — secure design principles, cryptography and system models.13%
4Communication and Network Security — secure network architecture and communication channels.13%
5Identity and Access Management — provisioning lifecycle, authentication and access-control models.13%
6Security Assessment and Testing — designing and conducting assessment and audit strategies.12%
7Security Operations — investigations, incident management, recovery and physical security.13%
8Software Development Security — secure SDLC, application controls and secure coding guidelines.10%

Open the official CISSP exam outline for full performance indicators.

Free explanation-led practice

8 CISSP Practice Questions — One per Domain

These scenarios test public security-management concepts rather than recalled exam wording. Select the best answer, then open the explanation.

0 of 8 answers reviewed
Domain 1 — Security and Risk Management

Question 1: Treating a Third-Party Risk

A risk assessment shows that a vendor's weak controls could expose regulated customer data if the vendor is breached. What should happen before the contract is signed?

  1. Accept the risk silently and proceed because the deadline is tight
  2. Document the risk, define a treatment (transfer, mitigation or avoidance) and obtain formal risk acceptance from an accountable owner
  3. Rely only on the vendor's marketing claims about its security posture
  4. Skip the assessment because the vendor is well known
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Risk management requires identifying, evaluating and formally treating or accepting risk with an accountable owner. Silent acceptance, blind trust in marketing claims, and skipping assessment all bypass the governance the domain requires.

Domain 2 — Asset Security

Question 2: Choosing a Data Classification Level

An organization is classifying a dataset before applying retention rules. Which factor should primarily drive the classification level assigned?

  1. The size of the file in gigabytes
  2. The sensitivity and business, legal or regulatory impact of unauthorized disclosure or loss
  3. Which department originally created the file
  4. The file format, such as PDF versus spreadsheet
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Classification is driven by the sensitivity and impact of the data, not file size, originating department or format.

Domain 3 — Security Architecture and Engineering

Question 3: Isolating a Compromised Process

An architect must prevent a compromised low-privilege process from directly accessing kernel memory. Which principle is most directly being applied?

  1. Security through obscurity
  2. Separation of privilege through ring-based process isolation
  3. Vendor procurement compliance
  4. Change-management approval
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Ring-based isolation and privilege separation are architecture and engineering controls that directly enforce this kind of process boundary; the other options are unrelated administrative or non-technical measures.

Domain 4 — Communication and Network Security

Question 4: Containing a Compromised Device

A network team wants regulated-data segments to stay unreachable from general user VLANs, even if a user's device is compromised. Which design most directly achieves this?

  1. A single flat network relying only on endpoint antivirus
  2. Network segmentation with access-control rules enforcing least-privilege paths between segments
  3. Increasing Wi-Fi signal strength
  4. Relying solely on VPN client software on user laptops
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Segmentation with enforced least-privilege paths is the direct network-security control for this goal; the other options do not restrict lateral reachability between segments.

Domain 5 — Identity and Access Management

Question 5: Reducing Risk After Termination

An organization wants to reduce the risk of a former employee's account being used after termination. Which control most directly addresses this risk?

  1. An annual password-expiration policy
  2. Timely deprovisioning tied to the HR offboarding process, with prompt access revocation
  3. Requiring longer passwords
  4. Enabling more verbose logging only
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Identity-lifecycle management tied to offboarding directly closes lingering access risk; password rules and logging alone do not revoke access.

Domain 6 — Security Assessment and Testing

Question 6: Validating Authorization Logic

A team wants to confirm that a web application's authorization logic actually enforces its intended access boundaries, not just that the app stays online. Which testing approach fits best?

  1. A basic uptime and availability check
  2. Authenticated, targeted access-control testing against the defined authorization rules
  3. Code-style linting only
  4. A generic unauthenticated vulnerability scan
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Validating authorization logic requires targeted, authenticated testing against the intended access rules; uptime checks, linting and unauthenticated scans do not test that logic.

Domain 7 — Security Operations

Question 7: Preserving Incident Evidence

During an active incident, evidence from a compromised server may later be needed for legal proceedings. Which practice is most important to preserve its usability as evidence?

  1. Immediately reformatting the server to remove the threat
  2. Maintaining a documented chain of custody while collecting and preserving evidence
  3. Sharing the raw disk image publicly for crowd-sourced analysis
  4. Deleting logs to reduce noise before analysis
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Chain of custody preserves evidentiary integrity. Reformatting or deleting logs destroys evidence, and public sharing breaks both confidentiality and custody.

Domain 8 — Software Development Security

Question 8: Catching Injection Flaws Early

A development team wants to catch injection vulnerabilities before code reaches production. Which practice fits best within a secure SDLC?

  1. Rely only on a web application firewall in production
  2. Integrate static and dynamic application security testing with secure code review into the development pipeline
  3. Perform security testing only during the annual audit
  4. Trust third-party libraries without review
Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. Integrating SAST/DAST and secure code review into the pipeline catches issues before production; a production-only WAF, delayed annual testing, or blind trust in libraries does not.

Ethical search-intent alternative

CISSP Exam Dumps vs. Original Practice Questions

Searching for “CISSP dumps,” “real CISSP questions” or “actual exam questions” can lead to unauthorized, inaccurate or outdated material. CertShield does not provide recalled or live ISC2 exam content and does not guarantee a passing result.

Use the official CISSP outline for scope, authoritative resources for learning, and original scenario-based mock tests for retrieval practice and gap analysis. That approach protects exam integrity and builds transferable security-management judgment.

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Candidate questions

CISSP Exam Preparation FAQs

How many questions are on the CISSP exam?

ISC2 currently states that the CAT exam delivers 100–150 items in a three-hour administration window.

What score is required to pass CISSP?

The official passing grade is 700 out of 1,000 points. That scaled score should not be interpreted as a simple 70% raw-question target.

How much does the CISSP exam cost?

ISC2 lists a US $749 fee for the Americas and most other regions. Confirm your regional price on ISC2's official exam-pricing page before registering.

Can I earn CISSP without five years of experience?

You may pass the exam and follow the Associate of ISC2 pathway while earning the required experience, with six years from your pass date to complete it. ISC2 also describes specific degree and certification substitutions. Verify your personal eligibility directly with ISC2.

Are these real CISSP exam questions?

No. They are independently written examples based on public security-management objectives. They are not copied, recalled, stolen or endorsed by ISC2.

Is this official ISC2 CISSP training?

No. CertShield is an independent practice-question and mock-exam publisher, not an ISC2-authorized training provider. For official training, use ISC2's own CISSP training options; use this page and the linked Udemy course for supplementary assessment practice.

How should I use CISSP practice tests?

Study the official objectives first, answer scenarios without notes, review every explanation, track weak domains and return to authoritative resources before retesting.

What if the free Udemy coupon no longer works?

Check the CertShield coupon page for the current published code and limits. If no free allocation remains, review the Udemy course details and enroll at the displayed paid price only if it meets your needs.

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