I can now happily call myself a Certified Wireless Security Professional (CWSP), after passing the exam on June 27, 2025.
This time, there wasn’t any rush. Unlike CWAP, I had no hard deadline. No pressure to finish within three months. That allowed me to approach the exam with a more balanced pace. Just like with CWAP, I combined my studies with writing a blog series — one chapter at a time. If Chapter 1 wasn’t written yet, I wouldn’t move on to Chapter 2. You could actually follow my study rhythm by looking at the timestamps of my blog posts. Sure, I could’ve gone faster, but let’s be honest: writing sometimes felt like a chore. On some days, I simply didn’t have the mental energy to sacrifice my “me-time” to sit down and write. Still, I pushed through. Because I had a clear goal — to support others who are working through CWSP, and to contribute something valuable to the Wi-Fi community.
Once I completed all chapters, I moved on to the official CWNP practice exams. On both versions, I scored 55 out of 60. The questions I missed were often ones where I misunderstood or misread something — and when I saw the correct answer, it was like: “Of course! That makes total sense.” That gave me the confidence to book the real exam.
During the exam itself, I managed to hold onto that good feeling. The questions were similar in tone and complexity to those in the practice tests (though obviously not the same). Even so, hitting “submit” is always a little tense. But a few seconds later, there it was — Passed. And a couple of minutes after that: 55/60. Same result as my practice exams. I’m really happy with the score. Although — I won’t lie — there’s always a tiny voice in my head aiming for that perfect score.
What to expect from the CWSP exam?
Expect a blend of concept-based and technical questions. Some things will be familiar if you’ve worked in IT security or networking: best practices around password policies, risk assessments, maintaining an incident response plan, and the general principle of aiming for strong-but-manageable security. But there’s also a significant technical side: you really need to understand the evolution from WPA to WPA2 to WPA3, what the key improvements were, and how encryption, hashing, and key management work. Know your PMK from your PTK and GTK. Understand how these keys are derived. Study attack vectors, and how to defend against them — from KRACK and Evil Twin, to downgrade attacks, to key reinstallation vulnerabilities.
I found that writing helped me internalize a lot of this. In fact, I revisited my own blog posts to refresh details before the exam — and I’m glad I did, because I realized I had remembered a few things incorrectly and was able to correct them just in time. As a final preparation step, I retook the CWNP practice exams and reviewed the questions from the official study guide. Honestly, those review questions are just as valuable as the chapters themselves.
What’s next?
I’m planning to move forward with CWDP and CWISA this summer. This time, I won’t blog the journey — I want to move a little faster, and writing costs time that I now want to use differently. That said, I’m still here, still eager to help. If you’re preparing for CWNP exams or struggling with Wi-Fi or security concepts, feel free to reach out. I’m always up for a chat.
Thanks for following my journey. On to the next one. 🚀