CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) Exam Blueprint

Quick Facts

Cost

Voucher price via CompTIA Store (regional)

Duration

90 minutes

Questions

Maximum 90

Passing score

750 (scale 100-900)

Languages

English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai

Delivery

Pearson VUE - test center OR online with remote proctoring

Validity

3 years (renew via CEUs, CertMaster CE, or higher cert)

Skills You'll Learn

Apply fundamental security concepts - confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication, authorization, accounting. Compare and configure technical, managerial, operational, and physical security controls. Recognize current threat actors, vectors, attack types and apply mitigation techniques. Identify and remediate vulnerabilities across applications, OS, hardware, cloud, web, supply chain. Design security architectures across on-premises, cloud, virtualization, IoT, ICS environments. Operate enterprise security tooling - firewalls, IDS/IPS, DNS filtering, DLP, NAC, EDR/XDR. Run IAM with provisioning, SSO, MFA, and privileged access tools. Conduct vulnerability management, incident response, and digital forensics. Manage governance, risk, third-party risk, compliance, and security awareness. Earn the industry-standard entry-level cybersecurity credential - DoD 8570-approved and globally recognized.

Exam Logistics

Question mix: multiple-choice + performance-based questions (PBQs).
Register through CompTIA Central; voucher purchased via CompTIA Store, scheduled at Pearson VUE.
Renewal options also include industry events, publishing, or relevant coursework.
Optional Retake Assurance add-on available.
SY0-701 replaced SY0-601. SY0-601 holders may renew into V7 via CertMaster CE.

Prerequisites & Recommended Experience

No formal prerequisites required.
Recommended: CompTIA Network+ and 2 years experience in a security/systems administrator role.
Target: aspiring and early-career security professionals.

5 Domains with Weights

1. General security concepts 12%

Security controls - technical, preventive, managerial, deterrent, operational, detective, physical.
Fundamental concepts - CIA, non-repudiation, AAA, zero trust, deception tech.
Change management - business processes, documentation, version control.
Cryptographic solutions - PKI, encryption, obfuscation, hashing, digital signatures, blockchain.

2. Threats, vulnerabilities, and mitigations 22%

Threat actors - nation-states, hacktivists, insiders, organized crime.
Threat vectors - message-based, social engineering, file-based, supply chain.
Vulnerabilities - app, hardware, mobile, virtualization, OS, cloud, web, supply chain.
Malicious activity - malware, password attacks, application attacks, network attacks.
Mitigation - segmentation, access control, hardening, isolation, patching.

3. Security architecture 18%

Architecture models - on-prem, cloud, virtualization, IoT, ICS, IaC.
Enterprise infrastructure - secure design, control selection.
Data protection - types, securing methods, classifications.
Resilience and recovery - HA, backups, continuity.

4. Security operations 28%

Computing resources - secure baselines, hardening, wireless, application, sandboxing.
Asset management - acquisition, disposal, tracking.
Vulnerability management - identify, analyze, remediate, validate, report.
Alerting/monitoring; enterprise security - firewalls, IDS/IPS, DLP, NAC, EDR/XDR.
IAM - provisioning, SSO, MFA, PAM.
Automation; incident response; data sources for investigations.

5. Security program management and oversight 20%

Security governance - policies, standards, procedures.
Risk management - identification, assessment, register, tolerance, BIA.
Third-party risk - vendor assessment, agreements, monitoring.
Security compliance - reporting, monitoring, privacy.
Audits and assessments - attestation, pen testing.
Security awareness - phishing training, anomalous behavior.

Official Prep Resources

CertMaster Learn for Security+ (V7) CertMaster Labs for Security+ (V7) CertMaster Practice for Security+ Security+ Complete Learning Bundle CertMaster CE for Security+ (renewal)

Test what you've learned

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Beginner Warm-up and concepts Start Intermediate Real exam style Start Advanced Tough scenarios Start

Additional Helpful Details

Voucher USD price and direct Exam Objectives PDF URL are not exposed on the public cert page.
Domain weights sum exactly: 12 + 22 + 18 + 28 + 20 = 100%.

CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701)