Free (ISC)² Certified Information Systems Security Professional Practice Exam - 5 Real Questions, Instant Feedback, No Sign-Up
The CISSP is not a technical exam - it is a manager-perspective exam disguised as a technical one. The most common reason candidates fail is answering as the engineer they are instead of the CISO the exam wants them to be. The five questions in this free preview are pulled from the same item pool as the paid CISSP mock. Each scores instantly. No credit card. No email required to start.
Why we give the first 5 CISSP questions away free
The (ISC)² Certified Information Systems Security Professional exam costs $749 USD. Most candidates spend another $100 to $400 on practice exams before they sit. That means the question candidates ask first is rarely "is this practice exam comprehensive?" - it's "is this practice exam any good?" You can't answer that from a marketing page. You can answer it by taking five real questions and watching how they're written.
That's why this page exists. The five questions in the free CISSP practice test below are not throwaway warm-ups. They are pulled from the same item pool as the paid CISSP practice exam. The grader, the explanations, and the question rendering are identical. If you don't like how the first five feel, you've lost six minutes - not the cost of a competing practice product.
What you get in this free CISSP practice exam
- 5 free CISSP practice questions drawn from the live 120-question (ISC)² Certified Information Systems Security Professional item bank.
- Realistic exam-day format. (ISC)² delivers a Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT): 100-150 questions over 3 hours. The exam ends when the algorithm has determined pass or fail. You cannot return to previous questions.
- Instant per-question scoring with full explanations so you see what you got right and wrong as you go.
- Topic spread across all 8 CISSP exam domains - the preview is representative, not stacked with a single easy topic.
- Zero sign-up to start - the trial loads anonymously. You only create an account if you choose to unlock the full 120-question paid mock after.
Who the (ISC)² Certified Information Systems Security Professional is for
Security practitioners with 5 years of paid full-time work experience in 2+ of the 8 CBK domains (4 years with a relevant degree or approved cert). The defining senior-level cybersecurity certification globally. Most candidates take 150-250 hours over 3-6 months.
(ISC)² Certified Information Systems Security Professional exam blueprint coverage in this practice test
The full FigigExams CISSP practice exam mirrors the official blueprint weights so your score gives a realistic readiness signal. The five free questions in this preview rotate across the blueprint so you see questions from every part of it, not just one.
| Domain | Weight | Key concepts you will see |
|---|---|---|
| Security and Risk Management | 16% | Confidentiality/Integrity/Availability, governance, compliance, legal & regulatory issues, professional ethics, risk management frameworks, BCP. |
| Asset Security | 10% | Information classification, ownership, data lifecycle, retention, data states (at rest/in transit/in use), data protection methods. |
| Security Architecture and Engineering | 13% | Secure design principles, security models, vulnerabilities of security architectures, cryptography (symmetric, asymmetric, hashing), physical security. |
| Communication and Network Security | 13% | OSI/TCP-IP models, secure network components, secure communication channels, network attacks, segmentation, wireless and mobile security. |
| Identity and Access Management (IAM) | 13% | Identification, authentication, authorisation, accountability, identity lifecycle, third-party identity services, federated identity (SAML, OAuth, OIDC). |
| Security Assessment and Testing | 12% | Assessment strategies, security control testing, vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, audit, security training metrics. |
| Security Operations | 13% | Investigations, logging & monitoring, resource provisioning, foundational concepts, incident management, disaster recovery, BCP testing. |
| Software Development Security | 10% | Security in the SDLC, development environments, change management, source code security, secure coding practices, third-party / open-source security. |
The full mock has 120 questions calibrated to the live exam difficulty profile, with a passing benchmark of 70% to give you a conservative readiness target.
The CISSP question formats we mirror
One of the most common reasons candidates fail on the first attempt is unfamiliarity with the exam's specific question formats. This free preview exposes you to every format the live exam uses, so nothing on test day is a surprise.
CAT (Computerized Adaptive Testing)
After roughly the 100th question, the algorithm decides whether your reliability is high enough to call pass or fail. About 85% of candidates finish between 100 and 125 questions. The exam can run to 150 if it can't decide.
Manager-perspective answers
Many CISSP questions have one technically-correct answer and one strategy-correct answer. The strategy-correct answer wins. "Implement IDS" is rarely the right CISSP answer; "establish a baseline and risk assessment first" usually is.
You cannot revisit questions
Unlike most exams, CISSP CAT does not let you flag or return. Each answer is final at submit. This is psychologically harder than the content itself for many candidates.
No multi-response or drag-and-drop
CAT items are single-best-answer only. The trade-off is that the items themselves are much more carefully constructed - all four options will look defensible to a hands-on engineer.
Free CISSP trial vs full FigigExams mock vs Sybex Official CISSP Study Guide + Practice Test bundle
If you're shopping for CISSP practice exams, you've probably already opened a tab for Sybex Official CISSP Study Guide + Practice Test bundle. Sybex is the official Wiley product and is co-authored by long-time CISSP instructors. The bundle is genuinely good and is the most common single resource passing candidates cite. If your budget is $150, buy it. Here's an honest side-by-side so you can pick the right tool for where you are in your prep.
| Feature | FigigExams CISSP | Sybex Official CISSP Study Guide + Practice Test bundle |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 trial, $18 for full mock | $100-150 for Sybex bundle |
| Manager-perspective framing | Yes | Yes (Sybex specifically trains for this) |
| CAT-style adaptive simulation | No (fixed-length) | No (most don't simulate CAT) |
| Question count | 125 per exam, 4 exam versions | ~1,500 question pool |
| Concept-level Exam Coach | Yes | No |
| Lifetime access | Yes | Time-limited via Wiley web portal |
The honest answer: if your budget allows it, candidates often use both - FigigExams to find your weak concepts cheaply, then a final readiness pass with Sybex Official CISSP Study Guide + Practice Test bundle if you want the industry-standard item bank. For most candidates, just FigigExams plus the official study guide is sufficient.
The Personal Exam Coach (after you finish the full CISSP exam)
Most CISSP practice exams give you a score and a domain breakdown - "you scored 48% on Domain 3" - and call that a result page. That's not actionable. Each domain has many topics. You need to know which topic specifically.
When you finish the full 120-question CISSP practice exam (not the 5-question free preview), the FigigExams Personal Exam Coach analyses your answers at the concept level:
- Concept-level miss patterns instead of broad domain percentages.
- A prioritised study plan ordered by estimated score impact.
- A pass-confidence score based on item difficulty and your error pattern - a real readiness number, not vibes.
- A follow-up chat where you can ask things like "explain why option C was wrong on question 23" and get a tailored answer.
It's the part of FigigExams that passing candidates mention most.
CISSP exam day tips that actually move your score
- When two answers are both technically correct, pick the more strategic one (policy/governance) over the tactical one (specific control).
- For risk questions, the order is almost always: identify, assess, mitigate, transfer/accept. Pick the answer that is one step earlier than the engineer-instinct answer.
- You cannot bring food, water, or earplugs into the test centre for CISSP. Plan accordingly.
- Practice in 90-minute blocks at the same time of day as your scheduled exam. CAT exam stamina is a real factor.
- If you bomb a question - and you will - immediately let it go. CAT recalibrates. Stewing on a missed question affects the next three.
Free CISSP Practice Exam - Frequently Asked Questions
Is this CISSP practice exam really free?
Yes. Five real (ISC)² Certified Information Systems Security Professional questions, instant scoring, no credit card, no email required to start. You only create an account if you decide to unlock the full 120-question paid mock after.
How many free CISSP practice questions can I take?
Five on this trial page. You can refresh the trial as many times as you like - each session reshuffles the answer order. To get a larger question set, take the full 120-question paid exam, which draws from a much larger item pool.
Are these questions the same difficulty as the real CISSP exam?
The questions are written to match the cognitive level of the live (ISC)² Certified Information Systems Security Professional exam. The average item is calibrated slightly above the live exam mean - so a 75% on our practice exam typically corresponds to a comfortable pass on the real exam, not a marginal one.
Do I need 5 years of experience before taking the CISSP?
Not to sit the exam. You can pass the exam first, becoming an "Associate of (ISC)²" with up to 6 years to earn the experience and convert to full CISSP. Many candidates take the exam first and accumulate experience afterwards.
Is CAT harder than the old fixed-length CISSP?
For under-prepared candidates, yes - CAT does not give you a chance to recover with later questions. For well-prepared candidates, CAT is faster (most finish in 90-120 minutes) and lower-stress because the algorithm tends to call pass after about 100 questions for strong candidates.
How is CISSP different from CISM, Security+, and CCSP?
CISSP is the broadest (8 domains) and the most management-oriented. CISM is similar in seniority but more focused on governance and program management. Security+ is entry-level (zero experience requirement). CCSP is (ISC)²'s cloud-specific cert and is often taken after CISSP for cloud focus.
How long is the CISSP valid?
Three years. Maintain via 120 CPEs (continuing professional education credits) across the 3-year cycle, plus the (ISC)² annual maintenance fee of $135.
Is CISSP worth $749 in 2026?
For senior security roles, yes. CISSP appears in 60%+ of senior security manager and CISO job postings as a required or strongly preferred credential. Median CISSP-holder salary in the US is $130K+. The cost is recovered in compensation impact within months for most career switchers from mid-level engineering into security management.
How is FigigExams different from Sybex Official CISSP Study Guide + Practice Test bundle?
Two practical differences: price ($18 per exam vs $100-150 for the bundled book + 1,500 question pool for Sybex Official CISSP Study Guide + Practice Test bundle) and the Personal Exam Coach - concept-level diagnosis with a follow-up chat that no major competing CISSP practice tool currently offers. Sybex Official CISSP Study Guide + Practice Test bundle remains a strong choice if you want the industry-standard item bank.
What does the full CISSP practice exam cost?
$18 per exam. That includes lifetime access to the 120-question mock, full per-question explanations, the Personal Exam Coach analysis, and the follow-up Coach chat.
Will this CISSP practice exam work on my phone?
Yes. The exam UI is fully responsive. All interactive question formats also support tap-to-place on touch devices, so phone and tablet candidates get the same experience as desktop.
Do you offer practice exams for other certifications?
Yes. Browse all FigigExams practice exams for the full list - including CCNA, CompTIA Security+, AWS Solutions Architect Associate, CISSP, PMP, and CompTIA A+ Core 1.
Ready? Start your free CISSP practice exam
Five real (ISC)² Certified Information Systems Security Professional questions. Instant feedback. About six minutes. No credit card. If the format clicks, the full 120-question mock plus Personal Exam Coach is $18.