I started blogging exactly 4 years back My first post.

CISSP stands for Certified Information Systems Security Professional and is one of the most popular and renowned certificates in the information security arena. In practical terms the CISSP makes me much more attractive for clients and future employers.

I took my CISSP exam in the middle of April, got the exam results a week later, got Karthik to endorse me (thanks Karthik!), sent in my endorsement document and voila! – 3 days and I am CISSP certified. I am impressed the speed and clarity with which ISC2 has conducted everything beginning from the application till the the final certification.

CISSP covers 10 information security domains. I had worked in about 6-7 of these in various projects over the past 5 years of my professional career and that made it easier for me to be prepared for the CISSP exam. Just before the exam I studied for about 7-8 days, took a few mock tests, read through some summary notes and that was enough for me to clear the exam. To be honest the CISSP exam is not as difficult as it is made out to be. If you do have a lot of professional experience in the information security domain and spend some time doing some solid studies you are set to comfortably clear the exam.

I used the following resources for the exam:

• Official ISC2 Guide to the CISSP CBK
• CCCure.org resources
• FreePracticeTests.org (via CCCure.org)
• Group study with my Shelton colleagues (when I was there a few months ago) – Thanks guys!
• Chapter-end summaries from CISSP Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Fourth Edition

Next Targets – ISSAP sometime in the next 4 months and CISM in December 2009.

If you know me professionally and would like to associate with me on LinkedIn here is my LinkedIn profile.

I am missing my family right now, am missing the slightly different mood on this day and especially missing the home food.

Trip to Bangalore was fun. Worked hard for a couple of days and then freaked out with Moin, Subodh and Sallu for a day. Pics coming up shortly.

Went home for Mom’s birthday. Had a nice time hogging on home food and spending time with family.

Suman and Sanket got engaged in Bharuch. Had gone there to attend the function and had a nice time. Bharuch is a nice small place. Enjoyed with Suman’s gang and with Sanket’s family. Had good dabeli, pani puri and lots of ice cream even though I had an upset stomach. Return train journey was fun. Photos coming up as soon as Sanket/Suman send them to me.

Murthy finally managed to send my new digicam over from the US. Technically not mine since I gifted the camera to Mom but I have taken most of pics till now. It is a Canon PowerShot A570 IS, a decent point-and-click camera though I am yet to take great shots with it – many snaps are simply overexposed.

Tons of work at office. Team is growing so lots of things to do. Extremely busy at work nowadays.

Went to Ahmedabad for Christmas holidays. Sanket, Subodh and Sallu were in town. Bharat (who is in Ahmedabad only) played host most of the time. Also met Pankit. Had a blast with these guys. Had lots of coffee, went bowling but mostly it was talking. Also had a party at a friend’s place. Enjoyed a hell lot. Photos coming up shortly.

Also went to Moin’s home on Bakra Id – had amazing chicken biryani! Moin was also flying to Riyadh the same day so said bye to him. Photos coming up shortly.

My friend Mona got married to Sanjay Nair (so now technically she is also a Nair!). They hosted a reception at the City Lake Restaurant in Vastrapur, met Ushma there (she is as much the prankster today as she ever was) and also met Sanjay for the first time. Nice chap though could not talk much with him since there were many people vying for his attention. Was really difficult for me (and for Sanket) to drag ourselves to the reception after the party the previous night but I am glad we did. Photos coming up for this too.

My friend Pratik is also getting married in January. To Pulkit – I know I know it’s a guy’s name… I am still thinking of a good nickname for her. They make a nice couple. Am still getting to know Pulkit. She is my new best friends for reasons that will not be disclosed on this blog Pratik and I are sort of the founding members of the Devdas chapter of the Prakash gang so am both happy and sad that he is changing boats. But I still have enough people for company so am not too worried

Suman and I went down to Ahmedabad for New Year’s eve too. Sanket came down from Bharuch. Pratik, Pulkit, Mona, Pravin and Bharat. Ushered in the new year with lots of food, phone calls, dancing, singing and masti. Photos coming up in a few days.

Saw Taare Zameen Par with family (Dad, Mom and Nani). Liked the movie but was really happy because my family also loved it. Dad very rarely likes Hindi movies but even he loved this one! Mom and Nani also loved it… I wonder if it was because they had seen Om Shanti Om just a couple of days back? Hmmm.

That’s all for now. Hopefully I will blog more regularly this year. Happy New 2008!

Life is going on as usual. Nothing new to report. Work is normal. Personal life is normal. Well… as normal as normal can be I have about 6 posts as drafts that I hope to complete in a few days and publish the final version. Keep your fingers crossed.

Brother has moved to Vizag and I am sort of missing him. Actually we used to hang out at least once in a week when he was in Mumbai. Lots of friends from abroad have landed up in India (or will be arriving soon). I am trying to meet as many as possible. I met Bantu in Ahmedabad. I also met Mona, Nehal, Pulkit and Pravin. I had a nice time with all of them. Janak is also in India for a week and yesterday we met up for a few hours before he left for Ahmedabad. We talked about old times and new and we realized that he, I and many of our close friends were in the same boat in more ways than one. So none of us will be really alone Sobha is also in town… not sure if and when we will meet up but it felt nice talking to her after such a long time (nice detailed talk is still pending).

It is wedding season and I am making many trips outside of Mumbai to attend the engagements or wedding of many of my close friends. I have about 9 such events lined up but will not be able to attend all I am trying to attend as many as I can but simply cannot attend all because of the schedule. I wish I could take a month’s leave, chill out at home and attend all the functions!

Well… that’s all for now. Take care and enjoy life!

Also started reading a book called Programming the Universe authored by Seth Lloyd. Lately I have been rereading some of my favourite stuff, Harry Potter, Asimov books, Sherlock Holmes etc. Too much of fiction actually. So this time when I walked into a bookstore I decided to get something I usually would not get. Picked up this book at random, read a random page and liked the quantum-mechanical thingamajig the author was talking about, so bought it. Read a few pages and seems interesting. The initial pages in such books are always easy and interesting. It is later that the fun starts… I have still not complete reading A Brief History of Time. Hopefully this book will be easier to finish.

Have lots of errands to run over the weekend. Parents are coming for 4 days next weekend so I have to get the house in order. Nothing big, my rooms are usually in good shape. But have to do some cleaning, call the plumber, call the electrician, order for a new gas cylinder and so on and so forth. I also have to plan how to take them around in Mumbai. I just hope the weather stays pleasant, that it does not rain and it does not get too hot.

That’s all for now. See ya soon!

Vineet had a less hectic schedule than usual so he came over to my place late in the evening. We went out to this nice restaurant called Cascade in Thakur Village, Kandivali East. Decent ambiance, very good food and excellent service. Then we went to the CCD in the same building as Cascade. And believe it or not I did NOT have coffee. I was too full to have anything else.

It is still hectic at work. Vineet and I are going home this weekend so that should be a nice break from routine. Punit is coming back in another couple of weeks. Murthy might be moving out in a couple of weeks.

Those are the updates from me for now. Over and out.