CompTIA Security+ SY0-701: Complete Syllabus Guide

CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 — Printable Syllabus Checklist

Domain 1 — General Security Concepts
Domain 2 — Threats, Vulnerabilities, Mitigations
Domain 3 — Security Architecture
Domain 4 — Security Operations
Domain 5 — Program Management & Oversight

Practice & Tips:

Hands-On Skills to Practice
Study Tips

How to use this checklist

Open each section, read the objective, and check off items as you master them. Your progress is saved in your browser (localStorage).

Tip: Print a clean copy anytime with the Print button.

Best practice: Combine theory with hands-on tasks in a homelab or sandbox.

Domain 1: General Security Concepts (≈12%)

Core principles, control types, risk basics, crypto foundations, and data protection concepts.

Foundational principles & identity basics

CIA triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability)
AAA (Authentication, Authorization, Accounting)
Least privilege, separation of duties, need-to-know
Defense-in-depth, secure by design, zero trust (high level)
Identification vs. authentication vs. authorization; factors & methods (passwords, tokens, biometrics, push)

Controls, risk, and policies

Administrative, technical, and physical controls
Preventive, detective, corrective, deterrent, compensating
Threats, vulnerabilities, likelihood, impact; risk appetite/tolerance; qualitative vs. quantitative analysis
Security policies & baselines; secure configuration guides; change management (high level)
Security awareness & training (e.g., anti-phishing)

Crypto & data protection

Symmetric vs. asymmetric cryptography; hashing; digital signatures
Key concepts: entropy, key length, salt/nonce, IV
Data states (in use / in transit / at rest)
Data masking, tokenization, and DLP concepts

Domain 2: Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Mitigations (≈22%)

Threat actors and attributes, social engineering, malware, network/app/cloud attacks, discovery/assessment, and defenses.

Threats & social engineering

Threat actors: script kiddies, organized crime, insiders, nation-state/APT; motivation/resources/capability/intent
Phishing, spear/whale, smishing/vishing, pretexting, baiting, tailgating; mitigations (training, MFA, verification)

Malware, network & application attacks

Malware: viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, fileless, rootkits; LOTL; C2
Network/host: DoS/DDoS, spoofing, MITM, ARP/DNS poisoning, session hijacking
Password attacks: brute force, spraying, credential stuffing
Web/App: SQL/LDAP/OS injection, XSS, CSRF, directory traversal, SSRF
API risks, insecure deserialization, auth/logic flaws

Cloud, IoT/OT, and exposure

Cloud/virtualization: misconfigurations, exposed storage, shared responsibility, metadata services
IoT/OT/SCADA: default creds, weak updates, segmentation requirements
CWE/CVE basics, CVSS scoring, zero-day; misconfigurations, unpatched systems, weak crypto, defaults

Discovery, testing & mitigations

Recon & OSINT; scanning (host, port, service, vulnerability)
Authenticated vs. unauthenticated scans; false positives/negatives
Pentest concepts: rules of engagement; phases (planning, discovery, exploitation, post-exploitation, reporting)
Mitigations: patching, config management, network controls, WAF, EDR, allow/deny lists, sandboxing

Domain 3: Security Architecture (≈18%)

Secure design, segmentation, enterprise controls, IAM, PKI/crypto, cloud, and data security architecture.

Design & enterprise network security

Secure network design, segmentation, micro-segmentation
DMZ, air gaps, bastion hosts/jump boxes, out-of-band management
Firewalls (stateful/NGFW), IDS/IPS, WAF, load balancers
VPNs (site-to-site, remote access); split-tunnel vs. full-tunnel

Endpoints, wireless, and IAM

EPP/EDR/XDR, application control, disk encryption
MDM/MAM, screen lock, remote wipe, geofencing, containerization
WPA2/WPA3, 802.1X/EAP, RADIUS; guest isolation, captive portal, rogue AP detection
SSO & federation (SAML, OIDC, OAuth 2.0); RBAC/ABAC/MAC/DAC; passwordless, risk-based, just-in-time access

PKI, crypto, cloud & data security

PKI: CA/RA, x.509, CSR, CRL/OCSP, key escrow; TLS, code signing, S/MIME, device certs
Crypto: AES, RSA, ECC, Diffie-Hellman, SHA-2/3, HMAC; PFS; TLS versions/cipher suites
Cloud: IaaS/PaaS/SaaS, shared responsibility, CASB; security groups/NSGs, WAF-as-a-service, KMS
Data security architecture: classification, labeling, retention; DLP placement (endpoint, network, cloud); masking/tokenization; rights management

Domain 4: Security Operations (≈28%)

SOC practices, monitoring, IR & forensics, vuln management, change/config, DR/BCP, ops crypto, and metrics.

Operations & monitoring

SOC roles/tiers, runbooks/playbooks, ticketing
Logging centralization, time sync (NTP), baselining
SIEM/SOAR: correlation rules, alerts, automation
EDR/XDR, NDR, Sysmon, NetFlow/IPFIX, packet capture

Incident response & forensics

IR phases: Preparation → Identification → Containment → Eradication → Recovery → Lessons Learned
Evidence handling, chain of custody, triage, containment strategies
Forensics basics: order of volatility, imaging, hashing for integrity, timeline analysis

Vulnerability, change & continuity

Vuln mgmt lifecycle: inventory, scanning cadence, validate false positives, prioritize remediation
Patch mgmt, compensating controls, exceptions
Change & config mgmt: RFCs, approvals, windows, version control, rollback; hardening (CIS)
DR & BCP: RTO/RPO, backup types (full/incremental/differential), replication; HA, redundancy, failover testing

Email/web, crypto ops, and metrics

Email/web security operations: secure gateways, sandboxing, URL rewriting, attachment defenses
Operational crypto: key rotation, HSM, certificate lifecycle, revocation
Metrics: KPIs/KRIs, MTTA/MTTR; post-incident reviews & continuous improvement

Domain 5: Security Program Management & Oversight (≈20%)

Governance, risk, compliance, frameworks, program elements, audit/assurance, and ethics.

Governance & risk

Policies, standards, guidelines, procedures
Roles & responsibilities: CISO, DPO, system owner, data owner/steward
Risk program, risk register, treatment (avoid, transfer, mitigate, accept)
Third-party/vendor risk, SLAs/OLAs, supply-chain security

Compliance, frameworks, and program elements

Privacy principles (data minimization, purpose limitation)
Regulatory awareness: GDPR concepts, HIPAA concepts, PCI DSS concepts
Frameworks: NIST CSF/800-53, ISO/IEC 27001/27002, CIS Controls, SOC 2 (awareness)
Budgeting, staffing, training & awareness programs
Testing strategy (vuln mgmt, pentest cadence), vendor management, secure procurement, SBOM awareness

Audit, assurance & ethics

Audits: internal vs. external, findings, remediation tracking
Ethics & conduct: responsible disclosure, acceptable use, conflict of interest

Hands-On Skills to Practice (maps to PBQs)

Pair each topic with a practical exercise to cement your understanding.

Configure firewalls, IDS/IPS rules, and WAF policies for common attacks
Build MFA policies and basic SSO; implement RBAC
Generate and deploy TLS certificates; troubleshoot browser/agent trust issues
Use a SIEM to search logs, create a correlation rule, and triage an alert
Perform a vulnerability scan, validate a false positive, and prioritize fixes
Run incident response steps on a simulated ransomware event
Enable disk encryption and DLP policies (endpoint and cloud)
Lock down Wi-Fi with WPA3-Enterprise (802.1X) and RADIUS
Implement secure backups and test a small disaster recovery scenario
Draft a simple policy (e.g., acceptable use) and a change-control RFC

Study Tips

Learn the why behind each control, not just definitions.

Practice reading logs and recognizing attack patterns.

Tie every topic back to risk: What could happen? How do we reduce it?

Mix theory with labs — even small simulations boost retention.

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