Please Do Not Post Word-For-Word Exam Questions Here!

[BarryStiefel]

Hello CPUG Community Members,

It seems some VUE Testing Centers haven't been honoring their confidentiality agreements or some exam takers haven't been honoring their Non-Disclosure Agreements because it appears that some of the current exam questions are being passed on to Test King and perhaps other sites selling "practice exams" and then content from these "practice exams" is ending up here on our discussion board.

We don't want this. Please do not post word-for-word exam questions (and their possible answers) on these discussion forums, for several reasons:

1. Those of us who have passed the exams have a vested interest in preserving the integrity of the testing process and preventing "question memorizers" from passing the exams. We're a fairly exclusive club; if you want to join, we want you to do it the hard way, in a way that preserves the reputational value of our credentials.

2. It's not clear that Test King or even our discussion forums provide accurate answers. I personally have seen many, many questions that students bring me from Test King in which the answer given and the logic behind it is simply wrong. Many of the answers you are memorizing are wrong.

3. The best way to learn the material is to the read Check Point manuals (they're free on Check Point's web site) and to practice with the product. You can download the ISO image for free and install with the free 15-day evaluation license. Or, of course, you could take the CPUG CCSA/CCSE Dual-Certification Boot Camp here in San Francisco, as we have a 95% success rate in successfully getting students through both exams in one week.

4. If you do this you're participating in a chain of contract violations, starting with the testing center or the test candidate and going through Test King and finally to our discussion forums.

5. You might get your certifications yanked for violating your agreements.

Here is some specific advice I've received from Check Point on this issue:

"Received a complaint today that CPUG was displaying the complete text of CCSE exam items. Many people are offended when they see that. Not only that, but when someone displays exam items, they are violating their NDA they agreed to when they take the exam. This can cost them their certifications."

"I would like to request the following recommendations to persons wishing to discuss exam items - it is perfectly OK to introduce a general stem and then discuss, in general, what the answer could be without discussing specific responses. That is how we configure the study guides. If people will comply with that format, we have absolutely no problem with what is discussed. In fact, once we complete the next exam versions we'll even offer to post a cross section of sample exam items that will be real items with correct responses, unlike Test King. Since it is the CPUG I wanted to suggest we try this. Where others have done this, we have had the legal department issue a cease and desist order. We usually give them one chance then pull the certificate."

6. Lastly, I want CPUG to be the most valuable possible resource for the Check Point user community, and one way to do that is for us to stay on good terms with Check Point. We had some very constructive conversations between CPUG members and Check Point employees at our CPUG CON conference in Las Vegas last month, and we're all working together to improve the quality of the exams. It doesn't help our relationship with Check Point if some of our members are pirating the exam questions.

With these goals in mind, I've removed several threads and posts which appear to be violating the exam NDA's.

[kmj1268]

I would definitely agree with Barry on this.
However, I am definitely not aware that the Checkpoint manual's are free.
Last I saw you had to pay around $400.00 for each manual.
I could be mistaken.
Fortunately, my company sent me to training and I had courseware to study with.
But, if I am not mistaken, I dont believe the Checkpoint manuals are free.
The PDFs are free. But they are specific articles that average around 200-400 pages a piece for each PDF.

Take care..
J.Mark Kellerman, CISSP, CCSA-NGX

[chillyjim]

The course ware is ~US$400 each, but the actual manuals are included in PDF form on the ISOs & CD.

[kmj1268]

Well, I think we agree on one thing. The courseware is $400. But actual word for word copy of the courseware is not available even online or in a PDF format. There are numerous PDF articles (something like 10-15 different PDFs) that you can read on each subject - for each version for NGX - R60, R62, R65. If you want a TRUE word for word copy of the courseware you can NOT get it online. Fortunately I had the courseware available and this is what I studied which was a tremendous help. It is somewhat overwhelming to read every PDF article you can get online when the average page count is around 300-400 pages per each PDF. The courseware is around 400-500 pages and is a single document in hard copy format that you can use to precisely target what you need to know for the exam without having to read thousands of pages of different PDF manuals. I have the R60 version CD that came with my courseware. I'll take a look at the CD and see if I have an exact word for word copy of the manual on the CD and then if I can find one on Checkpoint's site for free. I dont believe I will, but I will certainly recant my posting here if I do.

Take care.
Happy New Year.
J. Mark Kellerman, CISSP, CCSA-NGX

[melipla]

Originally Posted by kmj1268

But actual word for word copy of the courseware is not available even online or in a PDF format.

No one is suggesting that the course ware material is available in an electronic format. You can only read those in the printed book format.

As you said, the PDFs [aka Manuals] are free--this is what Barry was referring to. I think you just misinterpreted what Barry said to mean the course ware, which is incorrect.

[kmj1268]

Well....
Most people would take courseware and manual to be synonymous. I have attended a Checkpoint class before in the past so I already had the courseware, which they did refer to in our class as our Checkpoint manual. While, I will not disagree that reading the PDFs will definitely give you what you need to know to pass the test, it is definitely overkill and an arduous and tedious task to read through several different PDFs amounting to at least 1000 pages worth of documents. It is not the most efficient way to prepare for the test.

Melipla, I was simply making a point that the most effective way to study is to follow the courseware and get your hands on the courseware which can NOT be offered in PDF format and is NOT free. If you can prove me wrong then feel free to. I was simply making a point. I believe you misunderstood the point I was making.

I most certainly agree with Barry's stance in this post and agree that you need to learn the product inside and out and follow the courseware rather than trying to rely on other members posting word for word exam questions which is wrong.

Barry, if I offended you, please accept my apology, I was merely trying to clarify a point.

This site is a great help and it certainly was a very good resource for me.
Keep up the great work.

JMK

[Thorpuse]

Originally Posted by kmj1268

Well....
Most people would take courseware and manual to be synonymous. I have attended a Checkpoint class before in the past so I already had the courseware, which they did refer to in our class as our Checkpoint manual. While, I will not disagree that reading the PDFs will definitely give you what you need to know to pass the test, it is definitely overkill and an arduous and tedious task to read through several different PDFs amounting to at least 1000 pages worth of documents. It is not the most efficient way to prepare for the test.

Surely the best way to ensure that you pass the test is that you know the product! I seriously wonder about people's motivation for certifications sometimes - it seems that there's a LOT of people here that aren't actually interested in learning what the product does and how the product works, and only want to quick-fix to the piece of paper. If you're actually going to use the product, you need to understand how it works. Yes, that does actually require work, and may not be the most efficient way to pass the exam, but hey - you might learn something by actually committing the time to it.

The problem is, ultimately the attitude to certifications for certifications sake defeats the purpose of having the piece of paper, so it ruins the value of testing for everyone. If you know the product, you shouldn't need more than the manuals and some experience with the features and/or a lab to pass the exam. Oh, and the *freely available* study guides provided by Check Point.

[kmj1268]

Thorpuse, Understood!!!
However, I personally didnt have time to read 1000 and 1000 of pages for every FREE PDF manual you can download. I am sure there are a lot of other security professionals on this site like myself who want the best and effective way to learn the the material. That for me was to follow the courseware and USE the product. I use the product day in and day out on my job. This is what worked for me, was to study the courseware printed material intensely and work with the product. I didnt have time to read all the PDFs which is somewhat intense to achieve my goal, which was a requirement on my goals and objectives for my job. I am sure that there are a lot of other member here who can identify with what I am saying. I am not taking the shortcut by concentrating on the courseware manual (by not reading all the PDF manuals) but simply doing what is MOST practical when time is a factor, having worked with the product for over 2 years. I will note that it was helpful to read certain PDFs such as the SmartDefense user guide, the Smart Defense PDF, the QOS PDF, and the Smart Directory PDF. However, for these I just simply glanced over the documents and tried to pull out any kind of high level detail I needed.

[kmj1268]

Oh and by the way.... Thorpuse!!!!
after reading your reply to my post, I hope you are not implying that I was taking the quick and easy way to get my cert. It sure seems like you are implying that.

I think that is a little PRESUMPTUOUS. I have worked with Checkpoint for over 4 years and have extensive experience in the security field not to mention a Electrical Engineering degree from a very prestigious college. When it comes to security, I work hard and intensely to know my products that I work with. I will say that I dont feel that a test can fully measure whether you know a product or not. When you have to get in the trenches with a customer and fix a product and they are relying on you to fix it, you better know the product inside and out. I should have added in my previous post that our jobs takes up an insane amount of my time. I love my job and I love what I do, however with the demands of our jobs and having a family, its difficult to obsess one's self with reading 1000s of pages. Professionals have to be efficient and smart about how to obtain their goals but in a certification sense and objectives in their career. Also, some people dont take tests well, so passing a multiple choice is definitely not a measure of someone knowing a product. I will put real world experience and real world references of someones work before a cert ANY DAY of the week.

I really dont understand the replys here to my response. To be honest it has kind of turned me off to this site.

[Thorpuse]

KMJ,

I have no intention of starting a flame war here - but it sounds to me that you shouldn't need the courseware to pass the exams if you have the knowledge and experience you claim. As I mentioned, Study Guides are provided for free on the Check Point website - these are designed to focus any study on the relevant topic areas, with expected knowledge. If you're looking for an "efficient" way to study, then there's your answer right there.

Reading your posts, I can see that your motivations for getting the certs is not product knowledge, but job requirements. But the OP and numerous threads here seem to be about "cheat sheets" or exam dumps or all sorts of tools that are not about learning the product, but passing the exam. These are all "efficient" ways of passing an exam, but serve the purpose of diluting the value of certification for everyone, and are effectively lazy ways of trying to progress their career, to the detriment of the many people out there that work their butts off to become subject matter experts.

My post wasn't directly aimed at you, but at the many people who use sites like this as a cheap way to get certified. It sounds to me like you have all the things you need to get certified already - good luck in your exam.

[kmj1268]

Thorpuse.
I respectfully agree with you.
Neither is that my intention.

It is certainly great to have these free PDFs online at our disposal but when you have to read each one and scan through thousands of pages for what you are looking for, it doesnt serve for the most efficient way to prepare for the test. I rely on the courseware and practicing with the products and re-doing the courseware labs. You can always pinpoint those areas you feel you are weak in.

Take care...