r/CompTIA_Security

I'm studying for the exam right now and I noticed the use of nmap in the question. What are other tools/commands that I need to know to pass these questions?

Question: An enterprise automates infrastructure provisioning by defining networking, firewalls, and server parameters in machine-readable definition files. What practice is this?

A. Software-Defined Networking (SDN)

B. Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

C. Continuous Integration (CI)

D. Automation Playbooks

Comment your answers below! Answers will be revealed soon!

Passed CompTIA Security+ today with a 789/900!

Took me totally 2-3 weeks overall. Started with Professor Messer's Videos to get familiar with the concepts then took Jason Dion's practice exams, Messer's practice exams, and lots of reviewing of my incorrect answers instead of just memorizing them.

Cyber James & CertGames - Practice Questions at the end for revision(was just testing myself). Alongside I was going through PBQs using Cyberkraft.

A few things that helped me:

• Review why each answer is right and why the others are wrong.
• Don't get discouraged by 70–80% on practice exams. My first Dion exams were in the low 70s, and I improved steadily.
• In the exam - Save the PBQs for last if you're worried about time. I answered the multiple-choice questions first, then came back to the PBQs. That helped me manage my time much better.

The actual exam felt fair. Read every question carefully - words like BEST, FIRST, and MOST likely really matter.

Good luck to everyone preparing. If I can do it, you can too. Stay consistent, trust the process, and Keep reviewing your weak areas! You've got this! 💪

Hello everyone, I am studying for the sec+ exam currently, looking for some insight. I want to know what the most difficult thing was that you saw on the actual test. By difficult, it could mean overall challenge, or just something you didnt expect to be on the test. I ask this since I want to expect any possible curveballs when I go to take my test

Question: In an asymmetric cryptographic deployment, which key should be made accessible to anyone to encrypt data intended for a specific recipient?

A. Shared pre-shared key

B. Recipient's public key

C. Recipient's private key

D. Certificate authority key

Comment your answers below! Answers will be revealed soon!

Passed Sec+ last weekend with a 773. No prior cybersecurity experience.

I did a bootcamp course sponsored by my job, then I reread the textbook on CompTIA (that type of learner), did the practice questions for each chapter, watched Professed Messers videos and asked ChatGPT on topics I didn’t have a good grasp on, bought and took Dion’s practice exams like 4-5 times. I also downloaded the CompTIA practice app and Pocket Prep - I was just trying to constantly get myself thinking through and being exposed to questions. Took about 2.5 months to study because of having a full time job + job travel. Might have been overkill but was worried about my lack of experience.

Couldn’t even answer one of the PBQs because I didn’t have enough time.

Thank you to this group it honestly helped me find resources for studying.

https://preview.redd.it/leq19of6i1bh1.png?width=1048&format=png&auto=webp&s=bef79aa6211af5d589707f5e24653f5c027c621f

I passed my Sec+ May 27th 2026. This is what I did as a Cybersecurity student with with no prior IT experience: Sec+ Master Guide

passed my security+ exam today with a 773

here’s my study plan & exam day:

resources: Professor Messer Videos, Course Notes, & Practice Exams | CompTia Security+ App by Thanh Hung | Google Gemini

Study practice:

• i would first watch each Professor Messer Domain/Subdomain video and take notes while listening to his instruction

• after finishing a subdomain, i would review both my own notes and professor messer’s notes to compare and have a better understanding (writing things down while listening to it helps me remember)

• after reviewing both sets of notes. i would take the quiz for that subdomain on the Security+ App, i wasn’t worried about grade as much as analyzing my retention of that subdomain and if needed i would rewatch the video or look over my notes again

• i went through each subdomain and domain with this exact process until i got through the entire course. this took me about 8 days with doing about 32 hours (2 saturdays and sundays/i started on a saturday) on the weekend and 10 hours on the weekday
after finishing the course. i would do the daily challenge and diagnostic tests in the security+ app for reps. i also got the pro account so that if i got a question wrong, i could read why it was wrong and why the correct answer should’ve been the choice

• if it was a specific type of questions that were tripping me up. i would use Google Gemini to help fill in the knowledge gaps and explain it in a different way (for example: Ports/Protocols, the different authenticating systems, and more)

• i then moved to taking my practice exams on both the Security+ App and Professor Messer’s. on Messer’s i got a 76, 78, and 72. on the app i averaged around a 87%

Test Exam:
• my exam was 76 Total Questions (4 PBQ’s and 72 Multiple Choice)

• i saved the PBQ’s for the end and went thru the Multiple Choice, for me i can be really sped up, so i made sure to slow down and read the question carefully and every answer choice. if i didn’t understand it the first time thru, i would reread the question before answering. flag questions that you are indecisive on. most questions: process of elimination will bring you down to 2 choices
the PBQ’s were a beast. i didn’t even answer 1 of them. 2 of the 4 were doable for me that i felt confident in. of all the PBQ walkthrough’s in studying i did (app, messer, cyber kraft) none of em were comparable to the real test

• Messer’s practice questions prepare you really well for the exam. don’t sweat about scoring in the 70’s or 80’s on his exams, his questions are consistently more wordy which is good cause it makes you think through the problem and prepares you for the real exam
the App questions also do a good job preparing you for the test. they are similarly structured to the real exam (none of the app questions show up on the exam)

Overall if you put the time and effort into studying and retaining the material, the exam is not terrible. obviously if you put lackluster effort and focus into it, you will definitely fail, you can’t bs your way through it. you have to be honest with yourself while studying and doing the practice exams about what you’re struggling to retain or understand. Google Gemini was great for me in this instance cause it broke it down to me in a different way than Messer and the app that made the light bulb go off. i also had Gemini quiz me on my knowledge gaps and come up with ways to remember my knowledge gaps in a creative way. at the end of the day, you know yourself better than anybody. be honest with yourself, trust yourself, and you will be fine!

I have the Dion Training simulation and practice exams, plus a PDF of exercises from Professor Messer, but I’m getting tired of the same old questions. Is there a more fun way to study? I’m starting to lose motivation and feel overwhelmed by going over the same topics every day.
I have the exam in two weeks, it will be my second attempt, because on the first one I got 723/750

After three long months of studying, not consistently but pretty often, multiple nights of anxiety, postponing the exam several times I finally passed it with a score of 808 :) !!!

honestly none of the practice exams I’ve done replicated the style of wording used by Comptia, which is why I would say honestly focus a lot more on understanding concepts than doing a lot of practice papers, the practice is essential but don’t get molded into a specific style of question asking, make sure you know concepts well enough that you can answer any type of question

The resources I used:-

Professor Messor: Made essential notes from his videos, I also bought his exam pack and did it multiple times

Jason Dion: I did all of set 1 and all of set 2 which honestly is overkill

Andrew Ramdayal: Did 5 of his practice exams

Chatgpt: Understanding concepts more deeply

BurningIceTech: Only resource you need for pbq

Good luck to everyone giving this exam, you can do it, book the exam and just get it out of the way, let me know if you guys have any questions :)

Question: During an annual steering board workshop, executives document the definitive threshold of risk the organization is willing to take on across various computing initiatives to pursue its financial goals. What term defines this strategic parameter?

A. Risk Appetite

B. Risk Tolerance

C. Risk Matrix Baseline

D. Risk Avoidance Index

What’s your answer? Answer in the comment section! I will reveal the answer later today!!

Hello everyone,
I’m planning to take the CompTIA Security+ here soon and wanted to get a gauge on whether my practice test scores indicate that I’m ready.
So far I’ve scored:
Professor Messer: 83%, 83%
Jason Dion (Udemy): 83%, 87%, 80%, 88%
Based on these scores, do you think I’m in a good position to pass, or would you recommend more studying before taking the exam?
I’d appreciate any advice or experiences from those who have taken the exam recently. Thanks!

Question: A development group integrates an automated tool that reviews source code files for structural flaws, common vulnerabilities, and logic bugs without compiling or running the code. What testing method is this?

A. Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)

B. Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

C. Fuzzing analysis

D. Penetration testing

Answer in the comments below! Stay tuned for the answer reveal!

Very good feeling and satisfied to finally pass, I took it before and failed

I just used cheap sites like udemy, hackersconnect and pocket prep for my final prep. The EXAM was easier than the udemy practice tests more similar to pocketprep or hackerconnect and combined it with the book CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 Exam Cram Book by Martin Weiss and Robert Shimonski <-- highly recommend the book the practice tests i feel like kick in muscle memory but the book actually teaches.

Now I dont have the Network+ should I get that one next and then maybe after CySA? I heard the cysa and pentest+ exam are a lot harder than the sec+. I'm not really sure what I want for a career just yet but thinking to get into IT or Cyber.\

What are all of you getting after security+ and whats your end goals?