We found Terry through a website she built. What we really found was a story about not giving up.
A Google search led us to infosecinstitutesucks.com. We were curious. We reached out. Turns out the woman behind it is now a certified CISSP and ISSEP, and the site is really just the footnote to a much bigger story about resilience, resourcefulness, and figuring it out the hard way. We sat down with Terry to hear all of it.
We found you through your website. That’s a pretty bold domain name. What’s the story?
Ha. Yeah, it gets attention. I could have just moved on quietly after what happened, but I kept running into people who were about to make the same mistake I did. At some point being useful felt better than being silent.
So what did happen?
I paid for a CISSP boot camp. I thought I had done my homework. The marketing was convincing, the price felt justified, and they included an exam voucher in the package which was a big deal since the exam itself isn’t cheap.
Day one something felt off. The materials were outdated, the instruction was underwhelming, and when I asked questions I got non-answers. Midweek I pulled up ISC2’s official training partner list on a whim and they weren’t on it. When I confronted the trainer he told me he was “retired” so it didn’t matter.
That was the answer.
What happened with the voucher?
After the boot camp ended I waited for it. Days passed, then a week, then another. When they finally responded they told me the voucher was only valid if you had scheduled your exam during the class, no retakes allowed. None of that was in any materials I had seen. I was furious.
I reached out to others from the class and everyone was in the same boat. We ended up forming a group chat just to actually study together, which tells you everything about what the boot camp delivered.
Did you consider just walking away from the certification altogether?
For about five minutes, maybe. Then I got angry enough to get focused. I called ISC2 directly to report what happened and ended up talking to someone in their certification department named Sarah. She was incredible. She listened, asked for documentation, and arranged a free exam voucher for me. Not their fault, but they made it right. That changed everything for me mentally.
How did you rebuild your study plan?
One domain per week, no exceptions. The CISSP is too much to absorb all at once and trying to rush it is how people fail.
I got a lot more selective with resources the second time. Quantum Exams was probably the biggest unlock — the questions are built around scenario-based thinking, which is exactly what the exam tests. Boson was excellent too. A guy named Jay from their team reached out with a trial code when I was reviewing it and the product was genuinely impressive, especially the answer explanations. Reddit r/cissp kept me sane on the rough days. That community is something else.
What do you wish someone had told you at the very beginning?
That the exam isn’t testing what you know. It’s testing how you think. The moment I stopped looking for the right answer and started asking what a security manager would do for the organization, everything shifted. My scores improved, the material made more sense, and I stopped white-knuckling every practice session.
I also wish someone had told me to verify any training provider on ISC2’s official site before handing over money. Would have saved me a lot of grief.
You’re now a CISSP and an ISSEP. Looking back, what does the whole thing mean to you?
It means I earned it in a way most people don’t have to. Every frustrating moment, every wasted hour, every runaround on that voucher — it made me more thorough, more determined, and honestly better prepared than I would have been if it had all gone smoothly.
I don’t recommend the scenic route. But I’m glad I took it.
Terry is a certified CISSP and ISSEP working in cybersecurity. Her full story, resource reviews, and study advice are at infosecinstitutesucks.com.
