CISSP Domain 4: Communication and Network Security
A full tour of Domain 4 of the CISSP exam - Communication and Network Security - worth 13% of the exam under ISC2's exam outline effective 15 April 2024.
This video works through all three of Domain 4's sub-domain areas in order: secure network architecture, covering the OSI and TCP/IP models, IPv4 and IPv6 addressing, the secure protocols IPsec, SSH and TLS, multilayer and converged protocols, network topologies and the data, control and management planes, performance metrics, north-south and east-west traffic, physical and logical segmentation, micro-segmentation and zero trust (NIST SP 800-207), edge networks and content distribution, software-defined networking, and wireless and cellular security through WPA3 and 5G network slicing; secure network components, covering routers, switches, firewalls, infrastructure operations and network access control through IEEE 802.1X; and secure communication channels, covering voice, video and collaboration, remote and administrative access, and backhaul and third-party connectivity. A dedicated chapter matches the domain's common network attacks - spoofing, DNS and ARP poisoning, on-path attacks and DDoS, illustrated with the 21 October 2016 Mirai botnet attack on Dyn - to the specific controls that stop each one.
It closes with a full recap, twenty exam-style questions, each with four options, a pause to think, and an explained answer, and how Domain 4 connects to the other seven CISSP domains, ending with a pointer to Domain 5, Identity and Access Management, next in this eight-part series.
Every figure is on screen with its source and date.
Educational documentary. Not financial or investment advice.
In these topics
Chapters
- Learning objectives and domain weighting
- OSI model, layer by layer
- TCP/IP model and mapping it to OSI
- IPv4 and IPv6 addressing
- Secure protocols: IPsec, SSH, TLS
- Multilayer and converged protocols
- Topologies and the data, control and management planes
- Performance metrics for secure design
- North-south and east-west traffic
- Physical segmentation
- Logical segmentation: VLANs, VPNs, VRF
- Micro-segmentation and zero trust
- Edge networks, peering and content distribution
- Software-defined networking, SD-WAN and NFV
- Wireless security
- Cellular networks: 4G and 5G
- Secure network components and infrastructure operations
- Network access control and endpoint security
- Secure communication channels: voice, video & collaboration
- Remote access and network administration
- Data communications, backhaul and third-party connectivity
- Common network attacks and their controls
- Domain recap
- Review questions, part one
- Review questions, part two
- Review questions, part three
- Where Domain 4 fits and what's next
Sources and credits
Photo credits (Wikimedia Commons)
- NASA Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, Mojave Desert, California - a real satellite ground station: NASA, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGoldstone_Deep_Space_Communication_Complex_-_GPN-2000-000506.jpg
- Shima submarine cable landing station, Mie Prefecture, Japan: 伊勢志摩日和, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AShima_Submarine_Cable_landing_Station.jpg
- 151 Front Street West, Toronto - telecom carrier hotel housing TorIX internet exchange and Equinix/Cologix data centres: Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine, CC0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A151FrontStreet.JPG
- U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Geoffrey Miller inspecting a network communication rack, 378th Expeditionary Communications Squadron: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kevin Dunkleberger, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABehind_the_Screens-_A_378th_ECS_Portrait_Series_%289037565%29.jpg
- Staff Sgt. Alek Albrecht, Air Force Network Operations and Security Center technician, practising intrusion techniques at a Network War Bridge Course: Airman st Class Krystal Ardrey, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AStaff_Sgt_Alek_Albrecht_-_39th_Information_Operations_Squadron_%28140919-F-II211-046%29.jpg
- U.S. Air Force Airmen of the 51st Combat Communications Squadron establishing network capabilities during exercise Freedom Flag 26-1, Gwangju Air Base, South Korea: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Ty Pilgrim, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A31_ATF_operates_as_Air_Expeditionary_Wing_during_FF_26-1_%289666869%29.jpg
- U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ron Richards, 86th Communications Squadron, activating a 5G cell tower at Ramstein Air Base, Germany: U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Jared Lovett, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3A86_CS_brings_5G_to_RAB_%286819087%29.jpg
Primary sources
- ISC2, 'CISSP Certification Exam Outline', effective 15 April 2024 (isc2.org) - Domain 4 weighted 13%. Re-checked by web search 11 October 2026 (isc2.org's own page, corroborated by Simeononsecurity, PocketPrep, InfoSecTrain and Netwrix 2024/2026 guides).
- ISC2's own published history of the CISSP CBK restructure from ten domains to eight domains, 16 April 2015 - the former Telecommunications and Network Security domain folded into today's Communication and Network Security.
- IETF, RFC 8446, 'The Transport Layer Security (TLS) Protocol Version 1.3', August 2018 - still current; no TLS 1.4 standard has been adopted. Re-checked by web search 11 October 2026 (IETF datatracker: draft-zhou-tls-tls14 expired/withdrawn).
- IETF, RFC 8200, 'Internet Protocol, Version 6 (IPv6) Specification', July 2017, obsoleting RFC 2460. Re-checked by web search 11 October 2026.
- NIST, Special Publication 800-207, 'Zero Trust Architecture', finalised 11 August 2020, and Special Publication 800-207A (cloud-native extension), finalised 13 September 2023. Re-checked by web search and web fetch 11 October 2026 (csrc.nist.gov).
- IEEE, 802.1X-2020, 'Port-Based Network Access Control', approved 30 January 2020, revising 802.1X-2010.; this is the session's one 'latest news' correction to the originally scoped facts.
- Wi-Fi Alliance, WPA3 security enhancements announcement, 8 January 2018 - still the current Wi-Fi security generation. Re-checked by web search 11 October 2026 (no WPA4 standard published; industry discussion only).
- Dyn, incident statement on the 21 October 2016 DDoS attack, corroborated by Krebs on Security and contemporaneous reporting (Wikipedia 'DDoS attacks on Dyn', DarkReading, Data Center Dynamics). Re-checked by web search 11 October 2026.
- ISC2, 'CISSP Certification Exam Outline' (2024) - exam format: Computerized Adaptive Testing, English exam, 100-150 questions, 3-hour limit, pass mark 700/1000.
Not regulated financial advice.