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Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) Syllabus
ISACA certification for professionals who audit, control, and assess information systems.. The complete Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) outline — 5 subjects, 27 chapters and 119 topics — laid out so you can see exactly what has to be covered and tick each item off as you go.
Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) subjects
Each subject below has its own page with the full chapter → topic → sub-topic tree and a set of real exam-style flashcards.
5 chapters · 24 topics · 19 sub-topics
Governance and Management of IT6 chapters · 25 topics · 9 sub-topics
Information Systems Acquisition, Development, and Implementation5 chapters · 21 topics · 10 sub-topics
Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience5 chapters · 22 topics · 8 sub-topics
Protection of Information Assets6 chapters · 27 topics · 14 sub-topics
Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) flashcard decks
293 question-and-answer cards across 5 decks, written against this syllabus. Preview any deck free.
How to work through the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) syllabus
The outline on this page is arranged the way the syllabus itself is: subject, then chapter, then topic, then sub-topic. That last level is what most study plans skip, and it is where coverage actually goes wrong — a chapter marked "done" often has three sub-topics inside it that were never touched.
Weight your plan accordingly: Protection of Information Assets carries 27 topics while Information Systems Acquisition, Development, and Implementation carries 21. Giving both the same number of weeks is the most common planning mistake for Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA).
The ~100 hour estimate above is a first pass only: roughly 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic. Revision cycles, past papers and mocks sit on top of that number.
Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) syllabus FAQ
What subjects are in the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) syllabus?
Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) covers 5 subjects: Information Systems Auditing Process, Governance and Management of IT, Information Systems Acquisition, Development, and Implementation, Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience and Protection of Information Assets. Together they contain 27 chapters and 119 named topics.
How many topics does the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) syllabus contain?
The full Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) outline breaks down into 27 chapters, 119 topics and 60 sub-topics. Protection of Information Assets is the largest single subject with 27 topics across 6 chapters.
How long does it take to cover the whole Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) syllabus?
Roughly 100 hours for one full pass. That estimate allows about 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic, so it is first-pass coverage — revision, past papers and mock tests sit on top of it. At 3 hours a day that is about 5 weeks.
Are there Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) flashcards?
Yes — 293 question-and-answer flashcards across 5 decks, one per subject, written against this syllabus. A sample of every deck is readable on this site for free, and the complete decks are in the Examius app.
Is this Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) syllabus free to use?
Yes. Every page here is free to read, and importing the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) syllabus into the Examius app to tick off topics as you finish them is free too, in United States and everywhere else. No account is needed to start.
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