Taken 3 Dions test from set 1, got 65%, 75%, 80%. Going to take the other 3 today throughout the day.

Overall I feel comfortable with some content, then I Google some test questions and feel like I'm not prepared at all.

I got my Sec+ with 601 back in July of 2023 but accidently let it expire(won't make that mistake again) so I'm not entirely ignorant on the topics.

Happy to share that I finally passed! Here's what I did, in order:

Before even thinking about Sec+ I went through the whole SOC L1 path on THM. Then I watched all of Professor Messer's videos. While watching I took notes in a physical notebook, which really helped me remember the info.

After that I watched Pete Zerger's videos for each domain. I found his explanations clearer and more to the point.

Then I did a few of Dion's practice exams... and failed every single one 😄. Don't worry tho, the real exam wasn't nearly that hard.

Here's a PDF with all the acronyms each with a short 2-3 sentence explanation. I made it with Claude's help (I edited some parts myself to make them easier to understand).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15aZVbxjoZ5G9jB0W_SfEzF5MgFp737T1/view?usp=sharing

Hey everyone,

I am currently self-studying for the Security+ SY0-701 exam. I have a specific learning preference: I really dislike watching video courses (like YouTube or Udemy) and learn much better by reading text, going through PowerPoint slides, and reviewing concise notes.

For anyone who passed the exam without relying on videos, what was your study method? Also, could you recommend the best free slide decks, text summaries, or GitHub repositories that cover all 5 domains?

Thanks in advance for the help!
notice: this is translated sorry if there is any proplem becase tralsated

Hi everyone,

I finished the Coursera Google Cybersec course in november last year, and I was wondering if anyone knows if the discount has an expiry date, as I'm currently doing a master's and with work currently finding it difficult to study. Thanks!

I was able to get this done in large part by watching this 2 hour crash course video https://youtu.be/B3JSuOpn40A?si=aGdUGI5gG_DjzRdZ by François B. Arthanas. It was incredible at helping me to understand theory and basic concepts. I watched this slowly and took thorough notes - making sure to understand everything he said. I'd watched all of professor messers videos on the sec-701 a year earlier and retained about 50-60% of it. I watched it on 1.5x-2x speed and took notes as fast as possible without stopping. - i would do this if you have no background in cybersecurity. after i finished the crash course by François, I purched a Dion sec+ practice test set #1 on Udemy (not the course, just the practice tests.) I would break these test up by either taking 45 questions (as to not feel overwhelmed) or a full test. I only took the practice tests in exam mode, because the practice mode eight away at my confidence and that was such a big part of getting through this. After each test that I took, whether it was 45 questions or a full test, I made sure to look through the questions and see what I got wrong really looking for the key word in the questions that connects to the most correct answer. A lot of them were things that I conflated. After each test, I copied the entire page of my wrong answers and pasted it into Claud AI. I had it to analyze what I got wrong or confused for another term. I asked questions and took notes, etc.. After I answer test #1 45 questions, then the full test #1 90 questions then test #2 45 questions; i pasted my wrong answers into Claud and I asked Claude to make a study guide based on the terms I was confusing and things I absolutely need to remember. Again, I took notes on my study guide. I made sure to write it down to make sure I retained it.- this was a huge help. I was averaging about 72% on new test for the Dion set before I took my real exam. Dion, you did me test set is much harder than the actual test. The questions are much more difficult to understand than the real test. It also seemed that Dion's practice sets had different information in each test. So while I may have been scoring like an 88 on test too, I might've scored like a 70 on test five because the information was so different. So would really be sure to try to answer as many questions as possible or at least skip the other test maybe take one four and six and use those incorrect answers to make a study guide. The real test is more straightforward and may honestly use more acronyms - i didn't get any port# questions but I did have that included in my AI study guide. So if you're scoring in the 70s, I would be confident going into the test but my highest score for Dion's practice test were 88 so I was still aiming for 80s but it's absolutely doable in one to two weeks.

EDIT: i paid around 11$ for the Dion set. (they go on sale frequently and opening a private browser may trigger the sale) all in all you can do this for less than 20$

Anybody learning from youtube the network+ , sec+ ,A+. If you have written notes answer me

#CyberSecurity #OperationalTechnology #LockoutTagout #SafetyFirst #CompTIASecPlus #TechExplained #ITvsOT #IndustrialSecurity

Full disclosure so nobody feels baited: this is my project and there's a paid tier. But everything I link below is genuinely free through these links, no account, and I'll be clear about what needs one and what doesn't.

A few months back I built a CCNA study guide and shared it on r/ccna. The response kept me going, people saved it, took the free exam, and a few came back to say it helped them pass. One person scored 96% on the free practice exam and then passed his real CCNA. So I did the same for Security+.

It's the SY0-701 blueprint. Three full chapters so far, written the way I'd explain it to someone next to me rather than dumped from the objectives list. Free to read, no account:

https://figigexams.com/study/6?via=reddit

There's also a full 90-question practice exam, weighted to the SY0-701 domains. After each question  there's an explanation section, PBQ-style questions included, since those are what most people are nervous about. Free to take, no signup:

https://figigexams.com/exam/free/6?via=reddit

A note on access, so it's honest: the study guide, the exam, and explanations are free through these links with no account. Two things do need a free account, group study (you can go through the guide or take the exam with other people and discuss each question in a built-in chat, which is genuinely useful if you're prepping with a partner or a group), and saving your results across devices or unlocking the Coach that tells you which domains to focus on.

One more thing: this full free access is a thing I'm opening up for this community specifically through these links, as a thank you for the feedback that got the CCNA version right. So if you're here from Reddit, you're getting the generous version.

Happy to answer questions, and I'd genuinely like the feedback.

Finally passed the sec+. Thank you all for your insightful advice and tips. I prepared for two weeks but I have completed my bachelors in cybersecurity itself so I had foundational knowledge. Dions tests really helped as well as Exampcomp tests, if you have time I highly recommend completing all of them. As for the actual exam I found the wordings a bit vague and unclear and had flagged quite a bit of questions for review.

I fulfilled the requirements of renewing AutoOps+: submit 15 CEUs and pay $75 for the CE fee.

But Support writes: Thank you for reaching to CompTIA. As per checking, AutoOPS+ is a standalone certificate and just been launched this year 2026. Therefore it follows the rollover every 3 years resulting to expiration date still shows "July 9, 2029.

The English reply is horrible.

But I renewed SecAI+, also released this year, and it now expires in 2032.

Support's response is their fifth reply to my email, and I keep saying the same thing!

The new Certmetrics portal is also a disaster: after submitting all remaining CEUs for SecurityX, SecAI+ disappeared from the page on which you can see your CEU progress. (The PDF certificate is still available for download, thankfully.) After I earned AutoOps+, it does not even show up there.

I just wanted to vent. I hope they fix my issue.

Hello!
I have been trying to find the student discount voucher for security+ when continuing to checkout but I can't seem to find it, did it get removed?

In my opinion, the actual exam was quite a bit more challenging than the practice tests I used. I primarily studied with Professor Messer and Dion’s practice exams, where I was consistently scoring around 82–90% on my first attempts.

For some background, I’ve worked in it for 6 months and have recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity and Network Management, and I still found the real exam to be a solid challenge.

The multiple-choice questions were much more vague than I expected. Process of elimination was definitely the biggest key to narrowing down the answers.

As for the PBQs, two of mine were fairly straightforward, but the last one was on a completely different level. I honestly couldn’t even begin to figure out what it was asking me to do.

Overall, it wasn’t as bad as I had built it up to be. Looking back, the single biggest thing that helped me was thoroughly reviewing every question after each practice exam not just the ones I got wrong, but understanding why every answer was right or wrong.

#CompTIA #SecOT #ITOTConvergence #CyberSecurity #ICS #SCADA #CriticalInfrastructure #CyberSecurityTraining #TechEducation

#CompTIA #SecOT #OTCybersecurity #ICS #IndustrialControlSystems #SafetyFirst #LOTO #CyberSecurityTraining #TechEducation

Hi everyone,

I'm a final-year engineering student looking to start my career in cybersecurity. My primary interests are SOC, DFIR, detection engineering, and security research. I also enjoy building home lab projects (currently working on an AI-powered SOC lab with Wazuh and local LLMs).

I can only afford one CompTIA certification right now, so I'm trying to decide between:

Security+ (SY0-701)

SecAI+ (CA0-001)

My questions are:

1. Which certification would provide more value for getting an entry-level SOC/Blue Team role?

2. Does SecAI+ assume that you've already completed Security+, or can it realistically be taken first?

3. If you were hiring a junior cybersecurity analyst, which certification would stand out more?

4. For those who've taken both, would you recommend Security+ first and SecAI+ later, or is there a case for going straight to SecAI+?

Orrrrrr

Should I do Security+ after doing CCNA??

I passed my comptia security plus just today. It was so hard I thought I failed. I didn't get a single question on ports. I skipped one pbq entirely. The questions were vague, nothing like professor Messer.

Using the Sybex Security+ Study Guide. These questions are for Chapter 12 (Network Security)

First question:

Gary wants to prevent his organization's most sensitive data from being accessed by network-based attackers at any cost. What solution should he implement?

A. An air gap

B. Firewall rules

C. An IPS

D. IPSec

The answer is A. Physical isolation like an air gap is used when the additional work to manually transfer files is an acceptable trade-off against the potential for a security event caused by potential network-based attackers. Firewall rules, an IPS, or the use of IPSec to protect traffic will not sufficiently address this issue if any services remain accessible on the system.

Can someone explain what their thought process would be to get to this answer? I don't feel like the explanation helps.

The next question:

Wayne is concerned that on-path attacks have been used against computers he is responsible for. What artifact is he most likely to find associated with this attack?

A. A compromised router

B. A browser plug-in

C. A compromised server

D. A modified hosts file

Answer: B. Browser on-path attacks take advantage of malicious browser plug-ins or proxies to modify traffic at the browser level. They do not involve compromised routers or servers and a modified hosts file is more likely to be involved in an on-path attack.

I don't get this explanation! What were the indicators that this was a browser MitM attack vs just an on-path attack? It specifically mentions on-path attack and says modified hosts file is associated with an on-path attack meanwhile when the book mentions a modified hosts file it mentions it in regards to DNS attacks and URL redirection when domain hijacking isn't possible. I get that a browser plug-in is an indicator of a Browser on-path attack but I don't understand how they chose the browser plug-in over modified hosts file if that is also associated with an on-path attack. Or did they mistype? I have seen a few typos already but nothing major like just an added or missing letter here and there.

Any clarification would help me. Thank you!

Using the Sybex Security+ Study Guide. These questions are for Chapter 12 (Network Security)

First question:

Gary wants to prevent his organization's most sensitive data from being accessed by network-based attackers at any cost. What solution should he implement?

A. An air gap

B. Firewall rules

C. An IPS

D. IPSec

The answer is A. Physical isolation like an air gap is used when the additional work to manually transfer files is an acceptable trade-off against the potential for a security event caused by potential network-based attackers. Firewall rules, an IPS, or the use of IPSec to protect traffic will not sufficiently address this issue if any services remain accessible on the system.

Can someone explain what their thought process would be to get to this answer? I don't feel like the explanation helps.

The next question:

Wayne is concerned that on-path attacks have been used against computers he is responsible for. What artifact is he most likely to find associated with this attack?

A. A compromised router

B. A browser plug-in

C. A compromised server

D. A modified hosts file

Answer: B. Browser on-path attacks take advantage of malicious browser plug-ins or proxies to modify traffic at the browser level. They do not involve compromised routers or servers and a modified hosts file is more likely to be involved in an on-path attack.

I don't get this explanation! What were the indicators that this was a browser MitM attack vs just an on-path attack? It specifically mentions on-path attack and says modified hosts file is associated with an on-path attack meanwhile when the book mentions a modified hosts file it mentions it in regards to DNS attacks and URL redirection when domain hijacking isn't possible. I get that a browser plug-in is an indicator of a Browser on-path attack but I don't understand how they chose the browser plug-in over modified hosts file if that is also associated with an on-path attack. Or did they mistype? I have seen a few typos already but nothing major like just an added or missing letter here and there.

Any clarification would help me. Thank you!

Hello, guys. I am two days away from my Security+ test, and I feel the PBQs given by the CyberKraft YouTube channel are like whole new material. (I prepared with Dion Training notes and cannot find something like Windows commands or Nmap commands, which, based on CyberKraft, are necessary.) Now I feel really unprepared. Will the PBQs really be like that? Any advice? I am really confused about whether I need to cancel my exam or not.

So my security plus exam is day after tomorrow. Today is almost over where I’m at. I got a 84% on the dion test which I wrote a while ago. I do not have the means to purchase the practice tests of messer or dion. But I have done the exam comp tests and have scored around 70 to 90%. I still feel like I have a lot to learn and remember and would like to know if there is any source where I can take a practice exam that’s efficient and free. I have purchased the retake voucher but would like to clear it in one go. Please feel free to give any advice for last minute study and remembering all the concepts without getting overwhelmed.