4 CISM Domains: Requirements for the ISACA's CISM Qualification

The CISM, also known as Certified Information Security Manager, is a reputed managing post that gives you vast insight into your managerial skills. This certification is globally accepted and awarded by ISACA. Most people generally prepare for it by buying specific courses. The sole motive of its systems is to help you clear the CISM (ISACA) exam on the first try. In this article, we will discuss how to crack the CISM exam on your first try, its merits and demerits, how to do CISM exam prep work, the CISM® Certification training, and its specific CISM domains, such as CISM job practice domains, CISM Exam domains, CISM® Certification domains, and ISACA CISM domains.  

CISM is based on multiple factors of an aspirant. It considers your technical front, academic front, and career-based subjects - the main crux of the four domains.

The CISM Qualification 

There are many requirements for the qualification of CISM. We will now learn about the different CISM domains and their qualification techniques. 200 MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions) will be asked in the CISM exam that is supposed to be completed within 4 hours. You will have to score at least 450 (or more) marks to pass the exam. After appearing in the same, wait for seven to eight days to receive your results. It usually takes up to a week to declare CISM results. The result is generally emailed to you.  

What are the Basic Qualifications to Appear in CISM? 

The first and foremost qualification to give CISM exam is that you should have relevant work experience of not less than five years. Only then can you appear in the written exam. Other inmate qualifications have already been discussed above. Next, we will learn about the four kinds of CISM domains that will help you ponder the CISM® certification domains and the CISM job practice domains.  

What are The Different Kinds of CISM Job Practice Domains? 

There are mainly four kinds of CISM domains (job practice), the basis of which you are supposed to be examined. Let us discuss.  

• CISM Domain 1: The first domain consists of information security governance; it covers 24% of the exam.  
• CISM Domain 2: The second domain consists of information risk management. It covers 30% of the exam. 
• CISM Domain 3: The third domain consists of information security program development and management. It covers 27% of the exam.
• CISM Domain 4: The fourth domain consists of information security incident management. It covers 19% of the exam.

Changed Format Of CISM Domains

In June 2022, the domain distribution will be done. Mainly, only the percentage distribution will be changed. The changed domain system is given below: 

• CISM Domain 1: The first domain consists of information security governance; it covers 17% of the exam.
• CISM Domain 2: The second domain consists of information risk management. It covers 20% of the exam.  
• CISM Domain 3: The third domain consists of information security program development and management. It covers 33% of the exam.
• CISM Domain 4: The fourth domain consists of information security incident management. It covers 30% of the exam.

Stay updated with these kinds of changes under CISM domains and study accordingly. CISM job practice domains play an essential role in preparing for the exam. CISM exam domains are the basis of every student's study schedule.  

Now, you must be wondering how often CISM job practice domains are updated? Well, there's not much to worry about because it rarely changes. A few percentage changes are done frequently, so keep yourself updated with that. I don't think that ISACA has made any relevant changes on the writing front, so there's a green light on this road.  

What Domains are Covered on the CISM Exam?

The exact four domains are covered under the CISM exam domains. Let us understand the CISM domains that you will study in your it security training.

Information Security Governance (ISG) 

The management responsibilities and efficient security governance. The outcome of such domains is all that matters. It focuses on matters like comparing the ratio of security to assets. It also takes control of periodic testing. The other aspect of this domain is the Capability Maturity Model under the COBIT. 

It then continues to the two main security frameworks, namely, SABSA and Zachman. It will lead to a significant understanding of metrics.

Information Risk Management (IRM) 

The second CISM domain is information risk management. Knowing an organization's risks and managing them effectively is very important. Many new concepts will be introduced here, such as Exposures, RTO (Recovery Time Object), AIW (Acceptable Interruption Window), vulnerabilities, threats, impacts, RPO (Recovery Point Object), and so on.  

After calculating possible risks, one can easily avoid, transfer, accept, or mitigate the risk. This way, your and your team's time is saved. Hence, proving you to be beneficial to their organization.

Information Security Program Development and Management (ISPDM) 

Now, the third domain is the security program and management domain. The sole motive of ISPDM is to configure the strategies and implement those in the best possible way. It would help if you kept cost-effectiveness in mind as well. After this, pay attention to the desired goals and outcomes of the company. The SABSA methodology plays a vital role and is taken very seriously.  

The challenges that come in handy with ISPDM are: 

• People
• Processes  
• Policy Issues  
• Program Objectives  

Things to be pondered are mainly the ethics and legal parts: regulatory requirements and personnel. Calculating risks would also be a significant part of it. Only after managing possible risks can you achieve a better outcome.  

Information Security Incident Management (ISIM) 

The fourth domain, i.e., the Information security incident management domain, focuses on the outer management of the project. Its sole motive is to manage and tackle issues that were not already planned or considered. All you need to do here is handle the root cause of any problem. And with that handling, change other planning and organizing strategies as well.  

The ISIM takes into consideration three kinds of technologies, namely:  

• Network Incident Detection Systems (NIDS)
• Host Intrusion Detection Systems (HIDSs)
• Logs (these can be for a database, operating system or application, and system.)

Other things that require attention are the merits and demerits of the six kinds of recovery sites:  

• Duplicate information processing facilities
• Hot information processing facilities
• Cold information processing facilities
• Warm information processing facilities
• Mirror information processing facilities
• Mobile information processing facilities  

Continuing Professional Education (CPE) 

It is significant to acquire 120 hours of CPE every three years if you want to sustain your CISM® certification onboard. Moreover, it is essential to earn at least 20 hours every year and report these to the ISACA, the authority in this domain. Your requirements should be completed for the previous year to renew the source for the current year.

Some Guidelines to be Followed or Met:

• Follow and be in sync with annual CPE audits on selection
• You have to report the earned 120 hours every three years while earning 20 hours per year.
• Fees should be duly paid, which is 85 USD for non-members & 45 USD for members
• ISACA has a Professional Ethics Code with which you should comply.

Conclusion

After going through this article, we expect you to understand what and what not to focus on while preparing for the CISM exam domains and the CISM certification domains. The topics that are supposed to be covered in the domain front are discussed here, and now all you need is a little bit of confidence in yourself. We hope that this article was beneficial to you and that you give your one hundred percent to achieve the outcome that you are expecting. Manage your time effectively and use all this information to gain insights into this matter, shine light on your weaker areas, and don't give up. Strategize and analyze this material in your unique way and get started already. All the best! To get more information about the CISM Exam, click on KnowledgeHut CISM exam prep.