Certified Information Systems Security Professional
An advanced cybersecurity credential for experienced practitioners who design, implement, and manage security programs. It requires several years of paid work experience in addition to passing the exam, and is often associated with senior and leadership security roles.
Issued by ISC2 · Official page
Who can apply
- A minimum of five years of cumulative, paid work experience in two or more of the eight CISSP domains.
- One year of the experience requirement can be waived with a four year college degree or an approved ISC2 credential (ISC2 states the waiver requirements were updated effective April 1, 2026).
- Candidates who pass the exam without the required experience can become an Associate of ISC2 and have up to six years to earn the experience.
Exam
- Exam
- CISSP exam
- Format
- Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT), delivered at Pearson VUE test centers
- Questions
- Data unavailable
- Time
- 3 hours
ISC2 states the CAT exam can end after as few as 100 items. The current exam outline took effect April 15, 2024 and covers eight domains: Security and Risk Management; Asset Security; Security Architecture and Engineering; Communication and Network Security; Identity and Access Management; Security Assessment and Testing; Security Operations; and Software Development Security.
Official fees
| Fee | Amount | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exam fee (Americas, standard registration) | $749 | Pricing and taxes can vary by where the exam is taken. | Official page |
| Exam rescheduling fee | $50 | Listed on the ISC2 exam pricing page. | Official page |
| Exam cancellation fee | $100 | Listed on the ISC2 exam pricing page. | Official page |
| Annual Maintenance Fee (AMF), CISSP holders | $135 | Due each year on the anniversary of the certification date. | Official page |
| Annual Maintenance Fee (AMF), Associate of ISC2 | $50 | Paid annually by those holding Associate status while earning experience. | Official page |
Only fees published by the issuer or regulator are listed. Blank amounts mean no official figure was available to verify.
Renewal and continuing education
- Cycle
- 3 years
- Requirement
- Earn 120 CPE credits over the three year cycle (90 Group A and 30 Group A or B), with 40 per year suggested, and pay the $135 Annual Maintenance Fee each year.
Timeline
Associates of ISC2 pursuing the CISSP have up to six years to earn the required experience.
Related careers
| Occupation | National median wage |
|---|---|
| Information security analysts | $129,180 |
| Computer network architects | $134,050 |
Sources
- CISSP Certified Information Systems Security Professional, accessed October 18, 2026
- One Constant: The CISSP Standard, accessed October 18, 2026
- ISC2 Exam Pricing, accessed October 18, 2026
- ISC2 Annual Maintenance Fees, accessed October 18, 2026
- ISC2 Member Policies, accessed October 18, 2026
- Associate of ISC2, accessed October 18, 2026
- CISSP Certification Exam Outline, accessed October 18, 2026
- Computerized Adaptive Testing for CISSP Examinations in All Languages, accessed October 18, 2026
- CISSP Experience Waiver Updates, accessed October 18, 2026
Verification notes
The maximum number of CAT items and the passing score could not be verified on a fetched ISC2 page, so questions is null. ISC2 announced that experience waiver requirements changed effective April 1, 2026, but the article body and the CISSP experience requirements page did not render, so the specific new waiver rules were not verified; the one year waiver wording comes from the ISC2 CISSP landing page FAQ. No effective date was shown for the $749 price.
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