Shobhit Mehta is the author of ISACA Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC®) Exam Guide we got the chance to sit down with him and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Shobhit: I have been writing for the past 5 years now, and I couldn’t refuse when the opportunity itself presented to write about GRC in detail and provide a thorough guide for the ISACA’s CRISC certification. My main motivation for writing the book is to remove all the jargons that the industry uses and simplify everything with practical use case studies.
Q: What is the name of your book?
Shobhit: ISACA Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC®) Exam Guide.
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Shobhit: I have been working in the industry for 12 years now so my research focused more on how to write a book instead of the content for the book.
Q: What key takeaways do you want readers to come away with from the book?
Shobhit: The relationship between GRC, IT, Security, Product, Engineering, and Legal.
Q: Can you share any blogs, websites and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?
Shobhit: Sure, here you go: https://www.isaca.org/.
Q. Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Shobhit: With competing priorities, there will always be challenges in writing which for some is not the most excited part of the journey. Regardless, I had just one goal in mind i.e. to write the best that I can and not give up. The Packt team has been tremendously helpful in keeping me accountable, providing valuable feedback, and flexibility.
Q. How would you describe your author journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Shobhit: Absolutely, yes. This book wouldn’t have seen the light of the day.
Q. Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Shobhit: I wrote this one of my LinkedIn posts that the book is focused on 5 main pillars where it differentiates itself from others – Accuracy, Completeness, Presentation, Clarity, and Depth. If the content of the book did not satisfy this criteria then it was either removed entirely or rewritten to match those principles. I also had a ton of emphasis on providing practical use cases that are relevant to theoretical concepts. Lastly, the book has 300+ practice quiz written in the knowledge, scenario, and case study form — exactly in the format as they appear in the ISACA exams.
Q. What is/are your specialist tech area(s)?
Shobhit: My specialist tech areas are Cybersecurity and Privacy.
Q. What advice would you give to readers jumping into this technology? Do you have any top tips?
Shobhit: The book is technology agnostic, so I encourage readers to read the book with an open mind. Skip the sections that are not relevant and revisit the sections that are.
Q. What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Shobhit: We are always growing so fast in the technology field. I would argue that the books written a year ago are not as relevant now given the latest advancements in Gen AI and related risks. Nonetheless, keeping ourselves abreast of the latest technology trends and hence the risks is part of the cybersecurity domain that I love the most.
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Shobhit: In the initial days, I was writing after my work day but in the latter half I started writing before work due to my ultramarathon training sessions. I liked writing in the morning with less distractions.
Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Shobhit: ISACA’s monthly journal is my go-to resource, but I truly enjoy reading The Economist every Friday.
Q. Would you like to share your social handles? If so, mention them below.
Shobhit: Sure. All social handles mentioned here – https://shobhitmehta.com/#:~:text=and%20Privacy.-,Let%E2%80%99s%20get%20in%20touch!,-LinkedIn
Q: What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Shobhit: You may not like it all the time, but the key is to be disciplined. As Mike Tyson says – “Discipline is doing things you hate to do, but do it like you love it”.
You can find Shobhit’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
