CISSP Renewal – 7 Paths to Renew CISSP Certification

CISSP renewal requires certification holders to earn 120 CISSP CPE credits every three years. There are certain requirements and categories to earn CISSP CPE credits. We’ve explored the seven CISSP renewal steps in this article.

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📌 Hint: Do not skip this article, you will find FREE CISSP Renewal CPE resources throughout the article.

Before diving into the best paths to earn CISSP CPE credits, you need to know the CISSP renewal requirements and which activities can earn you CPE hours to renew your CISSP certification. You might be interested in reading our 7 Ways to Get CISSP CPE Credits article as well.

CISSP Renewal CPE Requirements

CPE is the abbreviation of Continuing Professional Education. Typically, an hour spent on an activity equals one CPE credit. You can report CPE credits in 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 increments. For instance, if you attended a 30-minute webinar, you can earn 0.5 CPE credits.

ISC2 requires CISSP certification holders to earn 120 CISSP CPE credits in a three-year period and pay an Annual Management Fee (AMF) of 125 USD every year.

Certification	CPE Category	Suggested Annual CPEs	3-year Total
CISSP	Group A	30	90
	Group A or B	10	30
	Total Required	40	120

ISC2 has further requirements for the 120 CISSP renewal credits. There are two groups of CPE categories to earn CPE credits. Group A and Group B. ISC2 requires 90 CPE credits to be earned from Group A and 30 CPE credits from the Group B category.

Group A credits: domain-related activities

Group A credits relate directly to activities in the areas covered by the specific domains of the respective credential. For the CISSP certification renewal, these activities should be related to information security, information management, business management, etc.

You can earn Group A CISSP Credits through the following example activities:

Education: Taking an online course such as CISSP Renewal Courses (*Most Popular)
Reading a cybersecurity white paper
Publishing an article on cybersecurity
Attending ISC2 Security Congress
Preparing for a presentation or teaching information related to cybersecurity
Performing a unique work-related project that is not part of your normal work duties
Self-study related to research for a project or preparing for a certification examination
Volunteering for government, public sector, and other charitable organizations
Taking a higher education course

We will go through each of these paths to earn CISSP Renewal CPE credits in detail throughout this article.

Note that, your day-to-day work activities do not count for CISSP CPE credits even if your job includes information security activities.

Watch 7 Paths to Earn CISSP Renewal CPE Credits Video

We’ve listed the 7 paths to earn CPE credits in our following YouTube video.

Group B credits: professional development

Group B credits are earned for completion of general professional development activities that enhance your overall professional skills, education, knowledge, or competency outside the domains associated with your respective certifications. This can include programs such as professional speaking or general management courses. While these do not apply directly to the domains, ISC2 recognizes that these skills are vital in the growth of all professionals.

You can earn Group B CISSP Renewal Credits through the following example activities:

Attending non-security events, such as leadership conferences
Participating in non-security education courses such as Business Strategy Training.
Preparing for non-security presentations/lectures/trainings
Non-security government/private sector/charitable organization committees

Now, Let’s go through each CISSP CPE Credit earning path one by one.

1st Path – The Best Way for CISSP Renewal – Education

As we’ve highlighted in the previous section, earning CISSP CPE credits through the Education category is the most popular way for professionals.

CISSP CPE Credits

While there are several benefits of CISSP renewal through CPE courses, here are the top five reasons:

No Caps: There is no maximum limit for the Education category, so, you can earn all CISSP CPE needs in one program, and renew your certification. You do not need to go elsewhere to find additional CPEs to renew CISSP certification.
Self-Paced: You do not need to attend an event, conference, or seminar. You can follow the courses at your place, at your pace.
Affordable: Depending on the program content, you can enroll in a self-paced CISSP CPE Online Training for ~$200-300. However, seminars or conferences start from $1,000, not only that, you may not earn all CPE needs in one event.
Requires less effort: When you enroll in CPE Courses, all you have to do is follow the curriculum, earn CPEs, and renew your CISSP certification. However, other CPE credits earning paths require significant effort from the CISSP certification holder such as creating content, sharing a presentation, authoring, etc.
Less prone to ISC2® audit: Since the CISSP renewal training programs are used by many certified professionals, ISC2 already has a track and record of the activities. However, for other categories, CPE submissions are more unique and may be more likely to hit an audit.

60 CISSP CPE Credits Program

San Francisco Business School offers a 60 CISSP CPE Course program. The program offers three self-paced business training programs: Executive Leadership, Strategy Creation & Execution, and Marketing Strategy. For each course in the program, SFBS awards a certificate of graduation. While earning CPEs, you will earn reputable business merits to highlight in your resume and LinkedIn.

ISC2 CPE Course Online Diploma and Certificate

There is a CPE rule for Education CPE credits. You can submit a maximum of 40 CPE credits per entry. While you can earn all 120 CPEs through the education category, you need to submit at least three different entries.

Watch Kathy’s CISSP Renewal Journey

Kathy Buckley is a CISSP-certified Professional. Kathy enrolled in the 60 CISSP CPE Course Program from SFBS and renewed her CISSP. Watch now her CISSP renewal journey.

2nd Path for CISSP Renewal – Reading

ISC2 accepts CPE credits by reading cybersecurity white papers, books, magazines, or white papers. For instance, reading a cyber security blog, a business education blog, or a book can count CPEs toward renewing your CISSP certification. 1 hour of reading counts as 1 CPE, however, everyone’s reading pace is different. So, earning CISSP renewal CPE credits through reading resources is not a crystal clear way to go.

There are further requirements for earning CPEs through reading as well. A maximum number of CPE credits applies to the following activities:

Books – 5 CPE credits per book with a 250-word description
Magazines – 5 CPE credits per magazine issue with a 250-word description
White papers – 1 CPE credit per paper with a 250-word description

So, there is a limit to earning CPEs through reading.

3rd Path for CISSP Certification Renewal – Events

Several cybersecurity conferences, events, and activities are organized throughout the year. Some of the events that can earn you CPE credits are as follows:

Attending ISC2 Security Congress
Industry conferences (in-person or virtual) and seminars
Online webinars, podcasts, and other virtual offerings
Professional cybersecurity chapter meetings
Attending non-security events, such as leadership conferences

You can attend these events and earn CISSP CPE credits. Typically, a one-day activity earns 6 CPEs. So, if you attended a two-day event, you will earn around 12 CISSP renewal CPE credits.

Attending global events has benefits like expanding your professional network and learning the changing trends in your domain. However, there are some pitfalls to these events.

Typically organized in big cities. If you are living in a relatively smaller city, you might not see any events to earn CPEs.
Requires in-person attendance. Many of the events take a few days, and you have to take days off from your work to attend these events.
Expensive. Typically, these events are charged $1,000/day. So, for a two-day event, you need to pay around $2,000. Travel and accommodation, if needed, are not included in these fees.
Does not earn CPE credits at once. Although it requires a significant amount of time and money, you cannot earn all the required CPE credits you need through one event.

Considering you are a full-time working professional and looking to earn CISSP renewal credits in one step, we do not recommend this path for earning CPEs.

San Francisco Business School offers a self-paced Free ISC2 CPE Course Online Program as well. If you attend this program, you can earn 3 Free CISSP CPE credits and submit them in the education category.

4th Path to Renew CISSP Certification – Authoring

If you are authoring business or cybersecurity-related content, ISC2 accepts your activity as a source of CPE credits. Some of the activities you can earn CISSP CPE credits are as follows:

Publishing an article on cybersecurity
Preparing for a presentation or teaching information related to cybersecurity
Preparing for non-security presentations/lectures/trainings
Writing, researching, and publishing books, articles, papers, and blogs
Preparation time for webinars, podcasts, or presentations
Preparing new or updating existing training seminars or classroom materials

Do you write articles or blogs? Give webinars? Make videos? Today’s digital world is full of new content and anything you create counts towards your CISSP renewal process. Typically, you can submit CPEs for the hours you worked on content creation. For instance, if you wrote a blog post for an hour, you can claim 1 CPE credit in your ISC2 profile.

Creating content is cumbersome. There are several aspects of curating quality content. If your profession involves creating content, it is fine, you can earn CISSP CPE credits while you are working. However, just to earn CPEs, creating content is a tough path.

CPE rules for Authoring

There are further CPE rules for authoring activities. A maximum number of CPE credits applies to the following activities:

Books: 40 CPE credits per book as author, 20 CPE credits per book as co-author, 10 CPE credits per book as editor
Articles: 20 CPE credits per article as author, 10 CPE credits per article as co-author, 5 CPE credits per article as editor
Chapters in books: 20 CPE credits per chapter as author, 10 CPE credits per chapter as co-author, 5 CPE credits per chapter as editor
Professional blogs: 10 CPE credits per blog as author, 5 CPE credits per blog as co-author, 2 CPE credits per blog as editor
White papers: 10 CPE credits per white paper as author, 5 CPE credits per white paper as co-author, 2 CPE credits per white paper as editor
Preparing existing training: one-day course equals 2 CPE credits, two-day course equals 5 CPE credits, five- to seven-day courses equals 10 CPE credits, and semesters (12 or more weeks) equal 20 CPE credits.

If you are authoring and trying to earn CPE credits, make sure you do not exceed these limits.

5th Path for CISSP Renewal – Unique Work Experience

ISC2 Members and Associates can earn up to 10 Group A CPE credits for activities performed during their regular working hours when they are engaged in unique projects, assignments, activities, or exercises. The unique project, assignment, activity, or exercise must fall outside their normal (or day-to-day) job responsibilities or job description.

For instance, if you are helping a charity organization audit its website vulnerabilities, this can count as a unique work experience and you can earn CISSP renewal CPE credits. One hour of participation related to the credential domains equals 1 CPE credit with a maximum of 10 CPE credits per unique work experience.

6th Path to Earn CISSP Renewal Credits – Self-Study

If you are working on a research project, or if you are preparing for another certification examination, you can count your self-study hours as CPE credits. Depending on the topic you are working on, it can count as Group A or Group B CPE credit.

Cybersecurity-related research and certification examination preparations count toward Group A CPE credits. All other business-related work counts for Group B CISSP CPE credits.

7th Path to CISSP Certification Renewal – Volunteering

ISC2 accepts volunteering activities as CISSP CPE credits as well. Below are two examples of volunteering activities:

Volunteering for government, public sector, and other charitable organizations
Non-security government/private sector/charitable organization committees

You can search for volunteering options on the ISC2 website as well. Note that, these activities may not be available in your location if you are living in a small city.

Auditing of CPE credits

ISC2 CPE auditors perform random audits of submitted CPE activities by CISSP certification holders. Certification holders will need to provide proof of attendance or a brief description of the activity. This is an important process that upholds the integrity of ISC2 credentials and maintains compliance with ANSI/ISO standards for certification.

If your CISSP renewal CPE submissions are selected for an audit, you will receive an email with instructions about the necessary documentation to support the activities. It is important to respond to this request and provide the information exactly as instructed within 90 days.

Upon providing relevant documentation to ISC2, your application will be reviewed and CPE credits will be processed on your account.

Summary

CISSP certification holders need to earn 120 CPEs every three years to renew their certification. There are Group A and Group B categories for earning CPE credits. Group A activities are domain-related activities mainly around cybersecurity. Group B activities are non-domain related activities that can be about business topics and personal development.

Although there are 7 different paths to earn CISSP renewal CPE credits, the most popular way is attending CISSP CPE courses. Professionals choose CISSP CPE courses mainly because there is no cap, affordable, and easy to earn CPEs. Besides, CISSP CPE courses are less prone to audits as those activities are already known by ISC2.