Table of Contents

Security+ SY0-701 is the current exam covered here. This page previously discussed SY0-601, which retired in 2024. Do not use the old objectives, prices, or video playlists as your exam checklist. Start with the Security+ course and the current objective document linked there. Professor Messer and Mike Meyers are different instructors. Check a resource’s exam code before relying on it.

Return to the Cybersecurity Career Playbook .

Prepare by Objective

Make a checklist from the official SY0-701 objectives. Mark each task as practiced, needs review, or not covered. Work through the course lessons on general concepts, threats, architecture, operations, and program oversight. Read the question stem before choosing a control. A risk decision depends on assets, exposure, and scope, not a memorized product name.

Practice in a Disposable Lab

Use an offline VM or private test network. Keep real credentials and employer data out of the lab. Record an initial snapshot, then complete these tasks:

  1. Inventory one host, its users, running services, and listening ports. Explain which findings need investigation and why.
  2. Enable one defensive control on the lab host. Test allowed and denied behavior, record the rule and output, then restore the baseline.
  3. Analyze a synthetic phishing message. Record sender authentication results, suspicious links without opening them, and an escalation decision.
  4. Review a synthetic incident timeline. Separate observed evidence from a hypothesis. Write containment, recovery, and owner actions.

For each task, give a reviewer the starting state, action, observed result, failure case, and rollback. A practice-test score measures recall. It does not prove you performed the work.

Check Readiness

Explain the five domains in your own words, complete the labs without step-by-step hints, and use the official objectives to find gaps. Verify current exam logistics and approved study materials with CompTIA before you book. Use the Security+ practice test to target weak topics, then repeat the relevant lab.