An adaptive exam rehearsal
100–150 questions that adapt to you, a 180-minute clock, breaks on the clock, no going back, pass or fail at the end. Afterwards, the Coach View shows how the decision was made.
Invite-only founding cohort · 40 seats
Think like a security leader.
Pass like one.
The CISSP grades judgement, not memory. CISSP Buddy trains it with bite-size lessons, 1,700+ questions that explain every option, and an adaptive exam rehearsal that tells you when you're ready.
- adaptive questions
- 100–150
- adaptive questions
- on the clock
- 3 hours
- on the clock
- domains, one plan
- 8
- domains, one plan
9:41
Practice · 7.103 of 10
A security architect is deciding how the firewall protecting a payment-processing network should behave if its software crashes. Which behaviour is MOST appropriate?
- AFail secure, blocking all traffic until the firewall is restored
- BFail open, passing all traffic so payments keep flowing
- CRestart automatically with logging disabled to recover faster
- DSwitch to permit-all rules for internal addresses only
surelikelyguessSubmit
Act I · The exam
100–150 questions. 180 minutes. No going back.
No skipping, no flagging, no second look. Breaks come out of your time. It ends when the exam is sure about you, one way or the other.
3:00:00clock keeps runningskipflagback
Act II · It adapts
Every answer moves the next question.
Get one right and the next is harder; miss one and it eases off. From question 100, the exam stops as soon as it is 95% sure you are above or below the line.
difficultyquestion 1 → 10
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Right answers raise the next question; misses lower it. Our simulator follows the same rule.
Act III · It grades judgement
The right answer is the one a leader would choose.
Often two answers are technically true. The exam rewards the one that protects the business first. That is a skill, and skills can be trained.
A security architect is deciding how the firewall protecting a payment-processing network should behave if its software crashes. Which behaviour is MOST appropriate?
The reflex
Fail open, passing all traffic so payments keep flowing
Passing unfiltered traffic exposes cardholder data to any attack during the outage.
The judgement
Fail secure, blocking all traffic until the firewall is restored
Choose the failure mode by what the system protects; security devices usually fail secure, exit doors fail open.
Try it
Feel it before you ask for it.
Real content from the platform, working the way it does in the app. No sign-up needed.
7.10 Recovery strategies · Domain 71 of 3
A security architect is deciding how the firewall protecting a payment-processing network should behave if its software crashes. Which behaviour is MOST appropriate?
How sure?
Who it's for
Every candidate has a reason. Which one is yours?
Crossing over
You don't need to be an engineer. You need to think like a leader.
“It's a technical exam, and I come from risk, audit or projects.”
The CISSP asks what a security leader should do, and why. We teach the why in plain English: one short card at a time, with the detail one tap away when you want it.
- 01A feed, not a textbook790+ short cards across all 62 topics. Scroll on the metro; open the detail when it clicks.
- 02The manager's lens on every answerEach question tells you what a security leader would weigh, not just which letter is right.
- 03Deep dives in plain words62 topic guides written to be understood the first time.
Sketch your plan
- Diagnose · 1 week
- Learn and drill · 12 weeks
- Rehearse · 3 weeks
- a day
- 51m
- questions, explained
- ~982
- full rehearsals
- 4
96 hours across 16 weeks. The app turns this into daily 10–25 minute tasks, ranked by what moves your readiness most.
A sketch, not a promise: your real plan comes from your diagnostic and rebalances every night.
Fifteen seconds. The whole idea.
Everything in the box
Measure. Learn. Drill. Rehearse. Know when you're ready.
A feed you can learn from
790+ short cards across 62 topics, with the line the exam cares about. Detail on tap.
1,700+ questions, every option explained
Scenario questions in the exam's style. Four options, four reasons, and the manager's lens.
Readiness, honestly
A pass estimate with its 95% band and a floor per domain. Book when the evidence says so.
Mistakes become a reading list
Every drill ends with why each answer was wrong. Save the topic and it returns in your feed and your plan until you've read it.
Flashcards that time themselves
1,600+ cards scheduled by FSRS, the modern spaced-repetition model, so reviews land just before you'd forget.
The Mindset trainer
Drills built on the gap between the technician's answer and the leader's. Train the instinct the exam rewards.
62 deep dives
One clear guide per exam topic, written in plain English, with a drill of up to ten questions at the end.
A plan that rebalances
Your exam date and weekly hours become 10–25 minute tasks, re-ranked every night by what moves your score.
Analytics that point somewhere
A heatmap of every domain and topic, your pace against the exam's, and how well your confidence predicts your accuracy.
Streaks and a daily goal
Points for every card, question and task. Your day ends at midnight wherever you are.
Install it. Study offline.
Works on any phone or laptop. Decks and sessions you've opened keep working on the metro and sync later.
The syllabus
Eight domains. 62 topics. One plan.
Weighted exactly as the exam weights them, so your time goes where the marks are. Every topic has a deep dive, feed cards, flashcards and questions.
16%Security and Risk Management12 topics
How it works
From day one to exam day.
Diagnose
A 60-question adaptive diagnostic, balanced across all eight domains, shows where you stand on day one.
Plan
Your exam date and weekly hours become a ranked list of short tasks. It rebalances every night as you improve.
Learn and drill
Feed cards, deep dives, flashcards and questions on the topics that move your score. Every mistake comes back with its reason.
Rehearse
Full adaptive runs under exam rules: 100–150 questions, 3 hours, no going back.
Book when ready
When your readiness clears the line in every domain, you'll know. Then you book the exam with confidence.
Why it exists
Good people fail this exam for the wrong reasons.
They read thousand-page books cover to cover and run out of weeks. They grind question banks that test trivia, then meet an exam that tests decisions. They take practice tests that never tell them why the answer they were sure about was wrong.
CISSP Buddy exists to fix that: to teach the reasoning, rehearse the real format, and tell you honestly when you are ready, in the minutes a working professional actually has.
- 1
Written by us, for you
Every lesson, card and question on the platform is our own writing, structured around the current exam outline and phrased to be understood the first time.
- 2
Every answer has a why
Four options, four reasons. You learn as much from the three wrong answers as from the right one.
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Honest about readiness
We show a pass estimate with its 95% band and the domains holding you back. We never promise a pass.
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The exam room stays quiet
No hints and no AI while you rehearse. The simulator plays by the exam's rules: no skipping, no going back, the clock always running.
- 5
Your data is yours
Your progress is private to you. Ask us to delete your account and your study history goes with it.
Wherever you study, your day is yours.
Streaks, goals and plans follow your own time zone, from Bengaluru to Toronto.
Pricing
One plan. Three months. Everything in it.
Priced for where you live. No tiers, no locked features.
Full access · 90 days
₹21,000
for 3 months · about ₹233 a day · Prices in Indian rupees
- 1,700+ questions, every option explained
- 62 topic deep dives and the snippet feed
- 1,600+ flashcards with spaced repetition
- Adaptive diagnostic and full exam rehearsals (100–150 questions, 3 hours)
- Readiness estimate with per-domain floors
- Mindset trainer, review summaries and reading list
- Study planner, analytics, streaks
- Phone and laptop, offline study
Founding cohort of 40. Pay securely with Razorpay: UPI, cards, netbanking or wallets. 5-day refund, no auto-renewal.
Coming next
Study partner mode
Practise and debate questions with a colleague.
Explain-it chat
Ask follow-up questions about any explanation.
Optional upgrades in a later release. Your plan stays complete without them.
Questions
Asked, answered.
Is CISSP Buddy affiliated with ISC2?
No. CISSP® is a registered certification mark of ISC2, Inc. CISSP Buddy is an independent study platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or approved by ISC2. You book and sit the exam with ISC2.
Do I need a technical background?
No. The CISSP tests how a security leader decides. We explain every concept in plain English and every question with the reasoning behind each option, so people from risk, audit, GRC, projects and IT service do well here.
How close is the simulator to the real exam?
It follows the published rules: computerized adaptive testing with 100–150 questions, a 180-minute clock that keeps running through breaks, no skipping and no going back, and a pass or fail result. Questions get harder or easier based on your answers, as on the day.
Do you guarantee a pass?
No one honestly can. We give you a readiness estimate with its uncertainty and show which domains need work, so you book the exam when the evidence says you're ready.
What do I get for three months?
Everything: 1,700+ questions with explanations, 62 topic deep dives, the snippet feed, 1,600+ flashcards with spaced repetition, the Mindset trainer, the diagnostic, full adaptive simulator runs, readiness, analytics, the study planner and streaks, on any device.
Why invite-only?
We are onboarding a founding cohort of 40 learners so we can support each one properly. Request an invite and we'll get back to you personally.
How does payment work?
Prices are shown for your region. We share payment details with your invite; taxes may apply.
Can I study on my phone, offline?
Yes. Install it from your browser on any phone or laptop. Flashcard decks and practice sessions you have opened keep working without a connection and sync when you're back online.
Founding cohort
Forty seats. One of them yours?
We're opening CISSP Buddy to a founding cohort of 40 learners, so each one gets proper attention. Tell us a little about you and we'll be in touch personally.
In India? Join now and start today. Elsewhere, this form puts you on the waitlist for international payments.
Already invited? Log in