ISC2 SSCP 120-Day Weekday Study Plan

This schedule breaks down the seven SSCP domains and the final review strategy into 120 sessions. The weighting of the domains has been used to approximate the number of days assigned to each area.

Day	Domain	90-Minute Session Focus
Week 1: D1 – Security Operations & Administration (15%)
Day 1	D1	Security Roles (CISO, Analyst, Data Owner, Custodian) and Responsibilities.
Day 2	D1	Security Awareness vs. Training (Behavior vs. Skills).
Day 3	D1	Change Management Process (Request, Approval, Implementation).
Day 4	D1	Asset Management: Identification, Classification, and Tracking.
Day 5	D1	Asset Management: Lifecycle Management and Disposal.
Week 2: D1 – Security Operations & Administration (Cont.)
Day 6	D1	Media Protection Procedures (Handling, Storage, Destruction).
Day 7	D1	Physical Security: Site Access and Entry Controls (Locks, Badges).
Day 8	D1	Physical Security: Environmental Controls (HVAC, Fire Suppression, Power).
Day 9	D1	Documentation: Policies, Standards, Procedures, and Guidelines.
Day 10	D1	Review D1 (Days 1-9) + Practice Questions.
Week 3: D2 – Access Controls (16%)
Day 11	D2	Authentication Factors: Something You Know (Passwords) and best practices.
Day 12	D2	Authentication Factors: Something You Have (Tokens, Smart Cards).
Day 13	D2	Authentication Factors: Something You Are (Biometrics, types, error rates).
Day 14	D2	Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Defense-in-Depth.
Day 15	D2	Federated Identity: Concepts of SAML, OAuth, and OpenID Connect.
Week 4: D2 – Access Controls (Cont.)
Day 16	D2	Authorization Models: Mandatory Access Control (MAC).
Day 17	D2	Authorization Models: Discretionary Access Control (DAC).
Day 18	D2	Authorization Models: Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) (most common).
Day 19	D2	Principle of Least Privilege and Need-to-Know.
Day 20	D2	Account Provisioning, Review, and De-provisioning procedures.
Week 5: D2 – Access Controls (Cont.)
Day 21	D2	Access Control Technologies: Firewalls and Proxies (Forward/Reverse).
Day 22	D2	Access Control Technologies: RADIUS and TACACS+ protocols.
Day 23	D2	Network Access Control (NAC): Concepts and Enforcement Modes.
Day 24	D2	Review D2 (Days 11-23) + Practice Questions.
Day 25	D3	Risk Management Concepts: Assets, Threats, and Vulnerabilities.
Week 6: D3 – Risk Identification, Monitoring, and Analysis (15%)
Day 26	D3	Qualitative Risk Analysis: High/Medium/Low, Likelihood, and Impact.
Day 27	D3	Quantitative Risk Analysis: SLE, ARO, and ALE calculation.
Day 28	D3	Risk Treatment Options: Avoid, Transfer, Mitigate, Accept.
Day 29	D3	Vulnerability Assessments: Methods, tools, and reporting.
Day 30	D3	Penetration Testing Phases: Planning, Discovery, Attack.
Week 7: D3 – Risk Identification, Monitoring, and Analysis (Cont.)
Day 31	D3	Penetration Testing Types: Black Box, White Box, Gray Box.
Day 32	D3	Monitoring Tools: IDS vs. IPS (Signature vs. Anomaly-based).
Day 33	D3	SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) Overview.
Day 34	D3	SIEM: Log Aggregation, Normalization, and Correlation.
Day 35	D3	Log Management: Collection, Storage, and Retention policies.
Week 8: D3 – Risk Identification, Monitoring, and Analysis (Cont.)
Day 36	D3	Monitoring: Baselines, False Positives, and False Negatives.
Day 37	D3	Security Continuous Monitoring (SCM) and Alert Triage.
Day 38	D3	Review D3 (Days 25-37) + Practice Questions.
Day 39	D4	Incident Response (IR) Process: Preparation Phase.
Day 40	D4	IR Process: Identification (Detection and Triage).
Week 9: D4 – Incident Response and Recovery (14%)
Day 41	D4	IR Process: Containment (Isolation of affected systems).
Day 42	D4	IR Process: Eradication (Root cause removal).
Day 43	D4	IR Process: Recovery (Restoring systems).
Day 44	D4	IR Process: Lessons Learned (Post-incident review).
Day 45	D4	Digital Forensics: Importance of Chain of Custody.
Week 10: D4 – Incident Response and Recovery (Cont.)
Day 46	D4	Digital Forensics: Preserving Evidence (Volatile vs. Non-Volatile Data).
Day 47	D4	Business Continuity Planning (BCP): Maintaining essential functions.
Day 48	D4	Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP): Restoring IT infrastructure.
Day 49	D4	Recovery Metrics: RTO (Time) and RPO (Data Loss).
Day 50	D4	Backups: Full, Incremental, and Differential types.
Week 11: D4 – Incident Response and Recovery (Cont.)
Day 51	D4	Backup Storage Strategies (Offsite, Cloud) and Testing.
Day 52	D4	High Availability (HA) and Fault Tolerance concepts.
Day 53	D4	Review D4 (Days 39-52) + Practice Questions.
Day 54	D5	Cryptography Types: Symmetric (AES, DES, Speed).
Day 55	D5	Cryptography Types: Asymmetric (RSA, ECC, Key Exchange).
Week 12: D5 – Cryptography (9%)
Day 56	D5	Hashing: SHA-256, Integrity, and One-Way Function.
Day 57	D5	Public Key Infrastructure (PKI): Components (CA, RA, CRL).
Day 58	D5	PKI: Certificate Usage, Validation, and Revocation.
Day 59	D5	Key Management: Generation, Storage, and Escrow.
Day 60	D5	Key Management: Revocation and Destruction procedures.
Week 13: D5 & D6 – Cryptography (Cont.) & Network Security (16%)
Day 61	D5	Applications of Cryptography: TLS/SSL, S/MIME, PGP.
Day 62	D5	Review D5 (Days 54-61) + Practice Questions.
Day 63	D6	OSI Model Layers and Protocol Functions (L2, L3, L7).
Day 64	D6	Network Devices: Switches, Routers, and Hubs (functions/security).
Day 65	D6	Secure Network Devices: Firewalls and ACLs (Configuration Basics).
Week 14: D6 – Network and Communications Security (Cont.)
Day 66	D6	Secure Network Devices: Proxy Server types and filtering.
Day 67	D6	Secure Network Devices: IPS/IDS placement and modes.
Day 68	D6	Network Segmentation: VLANs and their security purpose.
Day 69	D6	Network Segmentation: DMZs and their role in perimeter defense.
Day 70	D6	Network Segmentation: Physical vs. Logical Separation.
Week 15: D6 – Network and Communications Security (Cont.)
Day 71	D6	Secure Protocols: SSH vs. Telnet, SNMPv3, Secure Email.
Day 72	D6	HTTPS/TLS: Understanding the handshake and encryption.
Day 73	D6	Wireless Security: Evolution from WEP to WPA3.
Day 74	D6	Wireless AP Security: Disabling SSID, MAC filtering, and power control.
Day 75	D6	Virtual Private Networks (VPNs): Remote Access VPNs.
Week 16: D6 – Network and Communications Security (Cont.)
Day 76	D6	VPNs: Site-to-Site VPNs and Tunneling Protocols (IPsec).
Day 77	D6	Network Hardening: Disabling unnecessary services and ports.
Day 78	D6	Network Monitoring and Traffic Analysis (Basics).
Day 79	D6	Review D6 (Days 63-78) + Practice Questions.
Day 80	D7	Operating System Hardening: Patches and updates management.
Week 17: D7 – Systems and Application Security (15%)
Day 81	D7	OS Hardening: Disabling unnecessary services/accounts and Baselines.
Day 82	D7	Endpoint Security: Antivirus/Antimalware and host-based firewalls.
Day 83	D7	Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) concepts.
Day 84	D7	Virtualization Security: Hypervisor types (Type 1/2) and risks.
Day 85	D7	Virtualization Security: VM Sprawl and VM Escapes.
Week 18: D7 – Systems and Application Security (Cont.)
Day 86	D7	Cloud Deployment Models: IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS (Security Responsibility).
Day 87	D7	Cloud Security: Shared Responsibility Model in detail.
Day 88	D7	Database Security: Access Control and Least Privilege for queries.
Day 89	D7	Database Security: Encryption (At Rest and In Transit).
Day 90	D7	Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Security: Integration points.
Week 19: D7 – Systems and Application Security (Cont.)
Day 91	D7	SDLC: Secure Coding Practices and Input Validation.
Day 92	D7	SDLC: Testing (Static, Dynamic, and Interactive Analysis).
Day 93	D7	Malware Analysis Basics: Ransomware, Spyware, Rootkits.
Day 94	D7	Malware Detection Methods and Indicators of Compromise (IOCs).
Day 95	D7	Review D7 (Days 80-94) + Practice Questions.
Week 20: Comprehensive Review & Practice Exams
Day 96	Review	Full D1 & D2 Review (Operations & Access Controls).
Day 97	Review	Full D3 & D4 Review (Risk, IR, and Recovery).
Day 98	Review	Full D5 & D6 Review (Crypto & Network Security).
Day 99	Review	Full D7 Review (Systems & Application Security).
Day 100	Practice	Mini Practice Exam 1 (60 questions) + Review Results.
Week 21: Deep Dive & Targeted Practice
Day 101	Deep Dive	Review weakest areas identified in Mini-Exam 1 (e.g., Quantitative Risk).
Day 102	Deep Dive	Review second weakest areas (e.g., Network Segmentation).
Day 103	Deep Dive	Review ISC2 Code of Ethics and Ethical Scenario Questions.
Day 104	Deep Dive	Focus on all Authorization Models (MAC, DAC, RBAC).
Day 105	Deep Dive	Focus on all Recovery Metrics (RTO, RPO, RTO/DRP testing).
Week 22: Full Practice Exams
Day 106	Practice	Full Practice Exam 2 (125 questions, timed) – Simulate Exam Day.
Day 107	Review	Thorough review of Full Practice Exam 2 results and detailed explanations.
Day 108	Deep Dive	Review all Cryptography concepts, focusing on application (PKI, Key Management).
Day 109	Deep Dive	Review all Network Security concepts, focusing on secure protocols (SSH, HTTPS, WPA3).
Day 110	Practice	Mini Practice Exam 3 (60 questions) + Review Results.
Week 23: Consolidation and Process Review
Day 111	Consolidation	Focus on the Change Management Process and the IR Process phases.
Day 112	Consolidation	Review all Documentation requirements (Policies, Standards, Procedures).
Day 113	Consolidation	Review all Access Control principles (Least Privilege, Need-to-Know).
Day 114	Consolidation	Review all Media Protection and Asset Disposal steps.
Day 115	Practice	Full Practice Exam 4 (125 questions, timed) – Simulate Exam Day.
Week 24: Final Polish (The Week Before the Exam)
Day 116	Final Review	Review Full Practice Exam 4 results.
Day 117	Final Review	Read through the entire SSCP Study Guide summary one last time.
Day 118	Final Review	Review key acronyms and metrics (RPO, RTO, ALE, MAC/DAC/RBAC).
Day 119	Final Review	Light review. Confirm test center logistics. Rest and relax!
Day 120	EXAM DAY	PASS THE SSCP!