This CISSP cheat sheet distills the eight-domain ISC2 Common Body of Knowledge into a printable rundown of the facts, formulas, and models examiners test most. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Reinforce it with the rest of your free CISSP toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
CISSP exam at a glance
- Questions: 100–150 (English Computerized Adaptive Testing); 250 linear (non-English)
- Time: Up to 3 hours (English CAT); 6 hours linear
- Passing score: 700 out of 1000 (scaled)
- Cost: About $749 USD (Americas); pricing varies by region
What’s on the CISSP cheat sheet
- Security & Risk Management (16%) — the CIA triad, governance and the ISC2 Code of Ethics, the quantitative risk formulas (SLE, ARO, ALE), and BCP/DR recovery objectives — the largest domain.
- Asset Security (10%) — data classification, owner vs. custodian vs. controller vs. processor roles, data states, and media sanitization.
- Security Architecture & Engineering (13%) — the Bell-LaPadula and Biba models, cryptography (symmetric vs. asymmetric, signing vs. encrypting), and the reference monitor.
- Communication & Network Security (13%) — the OSI seven layers, secure protocols (TLS, IPsec, SSH), and defense in depth.
- Identity & Access Management (13%) — the identification-authentication-authorization-accountability sequence, MFA factor categories, and DAC/MAC/RBAC/ABAC.
- Assessment, Testing & Operations (25%) — vulnerability scans vs. penetration tests vs. audits, incident response, and disaster recovery — two domains combined.
- Software Development Security (10%) — the secure SDLC, the OWASP Top 10, and threat modeling with STRIDE.
How to use it in your final week
- Drill the quantitative risk formulas until they're automatic — SLE = Asset Value × Exposure Factor, ALE = SLE × ARO — because calculation questions are guaranteed.
- Front-load Security & Risk Management (16% — the largest domain) and deliberately review the domains outside your day-to-day specialty, where most candidates lose points.
- Lock in the memory hooks the morning of the exam: Bell-LaPadula (no read up, no write down) vs. Biba (no read down, no write up), the four risk treatments, and RTO (time) vs. RPO (data loss).
- Pair each review pass with a short scenario-based practice set so you practice the 'best answer, manager's mindset' reasoning the exam rewards, not just recall.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your CISSP practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
CISSP cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the CISSP cheat sheet is 100% free to download as a PDF, with no sign-up required. It's part of Career Employer's free CISSP toolkit alongside the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
The cheat sheet condenses the highest-yield facts from all eight ISC2 domains into a quick reference: the CIA triad and governance, the quantitative risk formulas (SLE, ARO, ALE), the Bell-LaPadula and Biba models, the OSI layers, access control models, and the recovery objectives (MTD, RTO, RPO) — organized by the domains ISC2 weights the exam around.
It's built from the current ISC2 CISSP Certification Exam Outline (effective April 15, 2024) and the eight-domain Common Body of Knowledge, and we review it against the official outline regularly.
No — the cheat sheet is a last-week review and cram aid, not a substitute for broad study across all eight domains and scenario practice. You need a scaled score of 700 out of 1000 to pass, so use the sheet to lock in facts and formulas, then build readiness with the practice test.
Click the download button (or the preview card) at the top of this page to open the PDF instantly. Bookmark this page so you can find it again in your final week before the exam.
References
- 1.ISC2. “CISSP Certification Exam Outline (effective April 15, 2024).” isc2.org, 2026. ↑
- 2.ISC2. “CISSP — Certified Information Systems Security Professional.” isc2.org. ↑
- 3.ISC2. “ISC2 Code of Ethics.” isc2.org. ↑
- 4.ISC2. “Exam Pricing and Registration.” isc2.org. ↑
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