Post #3525901

“OSCP+ has a ~30% pass rate.” In that case, the exam is shit, and the official approved study materials are shit. Background for those not in cybersecurity: OSCP is Offensive Security Certified Professional, a penetration testing exam by OffSec. Someone on LinkedIn, who sells OSCP training, provided that 30% statistic. I don’t know if it’s accurate, but a quick check on Reddit makes it seem likely. I asked OffSec for their pass rate, and they declined, saying they don’t publish that information. If it is around 30%, there’s a big problem at OffSec. For comparison, CompTIA, another IT and cybersecurity certification company, looks for a first-time pass rate of about 70%. The rationale goes like this: If the pass rate is too high, it means the exam is too easy. On the other hand, if the pass rate is too low, it may indicate poor courseware or a poorly written exam. When I was teaching the CompTIA courses at a local community college, I used to submit exam inaccuracies for A+, Network+, and Security+ to CompTIA. Some of them resulted in changes, some didn’t. The exam questions that drove me the most crazy were the questions that were vague or ambiguous – not definitively incorrect. And those were the ones they rejected my recommendations on. My guess was they were trying to keep that first-time pass rate from getting too high, and the vague questions were intentionally vague. Leaving CompTIA, and back to OffSec: I just looked at their website. The current price for the OSCP+ Standalone Exam is $1,699, and includes 2 exam attempts in a 90-day period. With a 30% first-time pass rate, that means a fair number of applicants are buying a second package. Maybe it’s all about the money. #cybersecurity