Study Notes and Theory

“Access control defines power — and with DAC, that power belongs to the data owner.” – Luke Ahmed Today is Day 40 of Yihenew’s CISSP study plan, focusing on Discretionary Access Control (DAC)  — one of the core access models in cybersecurity and a frequent source of confusion on the CISSP exam. DAC grants data owners the discretion to decide who can access their resources. It’s flexible, but with that flexibility comes risk. Understanding DAC helps you recognize where human j

“The CIA Triad is the core principle of not only the CISSP exam, but all of cybersecurity.” – Luke Ahmed Today is Day 39 of Yihenew’s CISSP study plan, focusing on one of the most fundamental — yet frequently misunderstood — pairs of concepts: CIA vs DAD . The CIA Triad  forms the backbone of every information security decision you’ll make as a CISSP. The DAD Triad , on the other hand, is its opposite — representing the consequences when those principles fail. Understanding b

“Late nights, early mornings — a recipe to put CISSP after your name! And you did!” – Luke Ahmed Today is Day 38 of Yihenew’s CISSP study plan, focusing on Defense in Depth  — the multilayered security strategy that every CISSP must be able to design, justify, and explain. Defense in Depth is not about piling on tools — it’s about ensuring that each control layer complements the others. From physical access to encryption, every layer should serve a purpose in minimizing risk.

“Great to see you studying data ownership on this 37th day! Ownership in general is important, as well as the delegation of data maintenance!” – Luke Ahmed Today is Day 37 of Yihenew’s CISSP study plan, focusing on Data Ownership  — one of the most important governance concepts in the CISSP exam. Many candidates overthink encryption and storage mechanisms but overlook a fundamental question: Who owns the data? Understanding ownership clarifies accountability, responsibility,

“Control frameworks not only provide a guide for the organization, but are essential to know for a high-level certification such as the CISSP!” – Luke Ahmed Today is Day 36 of Yihenew’s CISSP study plan, focusing on ISO 27001 , one of the most respected international standards for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an Information Security Management System (ISMS) . If you understand how ISO 27001 fits into the CISSP mindset, you’re already thin

“To anyone reading this — if you don't understand BCP/DRP for the CISSP, you will fail the exam. Yani made sure he knew it completely.” – Luke Ahmed Today is Day 35 of Yihenew’s CISSP study plan, focusing on three of the most exam-critical metrics in Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCP/DRP)  — MTD, RPO, and RTO . These terms aren’t just definitions — they are management decisions  about how much downtime and data loss your organization can afford before the busines

“You used every second studying without waste — the outcome was always obvious: CISSP!” – Luke Ahmed Today is Day 34 of Yihenew’s CISSP study plan, focusing on Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)  — one of the most widely implemented and exam-tested access models in the CISSP. RBAC is about assigning permissions to roles , not individuals. This ensures consistent access control management, reduced administrative burden, and tighter alignment between business functions and system

“Rain or shine a CISSP will do what they have to do.” – Luke Ahmed Today is Day 33 of Yihenew’s CISSP study plan, focusing on SAML — Security Assertion Markup Language , one of the most important identity federation standards every CISSP must understand. SAML allows users to authenticate once and access multiple systems or services across domains — it’s the foundation of Single Sign-On (SSO)  in enterprise environments. Knowing how  and why  SAML works connects directly to yo

“Highlighting and note taking — your secret resource for the exam and THE best way to maintain subject matter retention.” – Luke Ahmed Today is Day 32 of Yihenew’s CISSP study plan, focusing on Threat Modeling  — the art of predicting, identifying, and reducing potential threats before  they happen. Threat modeling is where technical knowledge meets foresight. You’re not reacting to incidents — you’re designing systems with security built in  from the start. Key Areas Covered

“Everyone goes on their own pace, and you did it perfectly. Not only that, your entire journey is documented — now that's a powerful statement!” – Luke Ahmed Today is Day 31 of Yihenew’s CISSP study plan, focusing on one of the most overlooked yet powerful tools in your entire journey — your mistakes. Every wrong answer, every confusing question, every note you had to rewrite three times — that’s not failure. That’s progress recorded. Mistakes are data points showing where yo