CASP (Now SecurityX) vs. CISSP – My Experience

Editor’s note (September 2026): CompTIA renamed CASP+ to CompTIA SecurityX when it launched the CAS-005 exam on December 17, 2024, and the previous CAS-004 exam retired June 17, 2025 (CompTIA). This post describes the CASP exam I took before the rename. Today’s SecurityX exam has a maximum of 90 questions in up to 165 minutes, is scored pass/fail with no scaled score, and CompTIA recommends at least 10 years of general hands-on IT experience, including 5 years of hands-on security. See CompTIA’s SecurityX page for current details. For the current exam, see our CompTIA SecurityX exam guide.

I decided to take the CASP exam for only one reason…

There is only one reason that I initially took the CASP exam instead of the CISSP. I did not make the decision logically.  I did not know the real differences between the tests.

I took the CASP test first because I thought it would be easier to pass. 

Plain and Simple – I thought that I would have a better chance to pass the CASP than the CISSP.  I heard that the CISSP was one of the most challenging and dreaded tests.  I heard story after story about people failing the CISSP.  I heard about one persistent person who was scheduled to take the CISSP for the 5th time.  Then I heard he failed it again.

So, I was scared to take the CISSP exam.  I did not think that I had what it takes to pass the test.

I did not hear the same things about the CASP.  I did not know a single person who had the CASP certification.  I also did not know anyone who took the test.  I did not hear any test horror stories.  I was uninformed, but I made the choice that was logical to me.  I would study for the CASP and try to pass it.

The CASP exam in a nutshell:

At the time, I believed that the CASP exam could be described as the test that should follow after you successfully pass the Security+ exam.

But the truth is that the CASP was probably 50x harder than the Security+ exam.

The best way to pass the CASP exam was to pass the entry-level Security+ test and then work in the industry for around five years and learn everything you can along the way.

The reason that I say this is because the CASP exam required you to have in-depth knowledge in the cybersecurity domains.

The CASP exam was for the technical folks who are in the weeds and know how to do the work. The simulations on the CASP were quite difficult.  You never know what you will get, but I had questions about building networks, using Linux commands to complete tasks, matching terms, etc.

The simulation questions were all given at the beginning of the test.

The advice at the time was that if you could get through the simulations successfully, then you would likely pass the entire CASP exam. The thought was that the CASP exam weighted the simulations more heavily than the multiple-choice section of the test.  Given this, I spent a long time working through the simulations.

I had about seven different simulations, and it took me an average of about 5-10 minutes to complete each of these.  I had 165 minutes to complete the test.  I felt pretty confident that I could zip through the multiple-choice questions, so I was not concerned about moving slowly on the simulations.

Unlike the CISSP, you could go back and review your answers on the CASP exam.

This ability to review your answers and change them made the CASP exam a bit easier for me.  I found that subsequent questions would jog my memory and allow me to go back and correct answers.

Also, at the end of the exam, you could flip through all of the questions and answers and double-check that you did not make any blatant mistakes.

But just like the CISSP, the CASP exam was a monstrous test.

If I had to compare the tests, I would say that the CISSP exam is more complicated.  The CISSP exam covers more depth — the questions on the CISSP exam range from obscure technical issues to IT management and leadership questions.

However, I don’t want to minimize the difficulty of the CASP exam.  The CASP exam was challenging, and it was undoubtedly a great and respected achievement to earn that certification.

My Recommendation

I still recommend both certifications. SecurityX (the renamed CASP+) shows your expertise at the technical level; it proves that you can do the work.

The CISSP proves that you have both technical expertise and also prove that you have mastery of management and leadership concepts related to cybersecurity. If the CISSP is your next move, here is how I passed the CISSP without reading a single book; to see where both certs fit in a longer plan, use the 2026 certification roadmap.

Donald Korinchak, MBA, PMP, CISSP, SecurityX, ITILv3

Donald Korinchak is a Cybersecurity Professional in the Washington DC area. Donald holds an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business. Donald is considered a thought leader in business, leadership, and cybersecurity issues.