What is on the SY0-801 exam?

Up to 90 questions in 90 minutes, 750 to pass on the 100 to 900 scale. Domains: General Security Concepts (16%), Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Attacks (24%), Security Architecture (19%), Security Operations (27%), Security Program Management and Oversight (14%).

Which domain is worth the most?

Operations at 27% and Threats & attacks at 24%. Start there, and keep coming back: the heaviest domains decide most pass and fail results.

How long should I plan for?

Set aside five to eight weeks at about five focused hours a week, then let a full practice sitting decide your exam date. If you already work in IT, the first weeks move faster. Do not book until a fresh sitting, with questions you have not seen, lands above the pass mark.

What score do I need to pass?

You need 750 on the 100 to 900 scale. Keep a margin above that in practice, because exam-day stress costs a few points.

If you studied 701, start with the delta: the AI-risk objective and the reweighted domains.

Do I need hands-on experience?

Helpful, not required. The browser labs let you practise the hands-on tasks without a server or a rack, and each lab grades the end state rather than the exact command you typed.

Are the practice questions the same as the real test?

No. SecLern questions are written originally for this site and mapped to the published objectives. They are never copied from a real exam.

What should I do the week before the exam?

Take one full simulation early in the week and review every miss. Spend the middle of the week on the two domains that scored lowest, then stop adding new material 48 hours out. Confirm your appointment and ID, sleep, and read the goal line twice on every performance task.

Is this page current?

This page is built against Exam Objectives Document Version 2.0 (2.0), verified 2026-10-16. Exam owners change objectives and retirement dates, so confirm the date for your language before you book.

CertificationsSecurity+

CompTIA · SY0-801

CompTIA Security+ SY0-801

CompTIA Security+ (SY0-801) is the next version of Security+, expected November 17, 2026. It reshuffles the domains and adds AI-risk material (prompt injection, AI-assisted phishing, and model misuse) alongside the classic threats, architecture, operations, and oversight.

Anyone starting Security+ now who will test after the 701 retirement in June 2027, or current 701 holders who want the current version. If your exam date is before mid-2027, study 701 instead.

Study SY0-801 free

See labs Check version dates

701 or 801: which should you book?

Both versions are listed with their published dates. The choice usually comes down to your test date, not the version number.

Full version explainer

SY0-701

Best if you can test before 11 June 2027

The current Security+ blueprint. Material, labs and practice are ready now. English retires on 11 June 2027; four other languages retire on 13 August 2027.

English: retires 11 June 2027 · 90 questions · 90 min · 750 to pass on the 100 to 900 scale.

Open the SY0-701 page

SY0-801

This page

Best if you start now and test after 17 November 2026

The next Security+ blueprint. Bookable from 17 November 2026. Adds AI risk topics and moves the domain weights. If you already studied 701, learn the delta instead of repeating the course.

Starts 17 November 2026 · 90 questions · 90 min · 750 to pass on the 100 to 900 scale.

You are here

Dates are from the CompTIA objective records checked on 16 October 2026. CompTIA wins if anything here conflicts with the official page.

Where the marks live

Domain weights from the current SY0-801 objectives. Start with the heaviest slice, not the first chapter.

Operations leads at 27%

27%Operations

How much study time does SY0-801 need?

Pick the closest starting point. The range below is a planning estimate, not a promise or a pass prediction.

70 to 110 hoursat a steady pace

That is up to 22 weeks at 5 hours a week, or 14 weeks at 8 hours. Some IT background, but the exam material is still new.

Estimate only. Based on the exam level and a study-pace assumption. Your background, exam date and practice scores will move it.

A study plan that works

Order matters

If you studied 701, start with the delta: the AI-risk objective and the reweighted domains.
Security Operations (27%) and Threats (24%) together are half the exam. Schedule them first.
Learn the AI attacks the way you learned phishing: what it looks like, what it abuses, what stops it.
Take full sittings under time before booking. The format did not get easier.

Try one question

Live demo

Demo questionThreats, vulnerabilities, and attacks

An attacker uses a generative tool to clone a finance director's voice, then calls an analyst and asks for a payment change. Which control best reduces the chance this works?

Written for this page. It is a teaching demo, not an item from the question bank or the real exam.

Try the hands-on shape

About 2 minutes

Try it: change a firewall rule and see the probes change

HTTPS from anywhere
Telnet (block it)
SSH from admins only

HTTPS (port 443): connected
SSH (port 22): connected
Telnet (port 23): refused by the rule
HTTP (port 80): no rule matches, so the default deny drops it

A teaching model of rule order and default deny, not a real firewall.

Demo preview. A teaching model with fixed sample data, not the real lab. Full labs run in the browser with checkable steps.

Practice a performance question

37 performance-based questions are written for CompTIA Security+ SY0-801. They ask you to do the task in a simulated console, table or form, and they grade in parts, so a half-right answer still earns credit.

How performance questions are scored

Sample performance questionMatch each task to the control or service

Tailgating at the badge door

A contractor badge still works after the contract ends

Smoke in the server room, and water is not allowed

A teaching demo written for this page. It is not a real exam item, and nothing here is saved.

This matching sample is local and ungraded. The full set is included in practice for this exam.

Common traps

Ways smart people lose points on this exam.

Studying 701 material and assuming it transfers 1:1. Weights moved and AI content is new.
Treating AI-risk questions as trivia. They test controls and mitigations, same as every other threat.
Booking 701 late in its window and getting auto-moved. Check CompTIA's retirement date for your language.

Practise SY0-801, three ways

Every lab is a job task in the tool that job uses, graded on the end state you leave behind. The PBQ pages explain the performance formats this exam uses and open one real scenario in the browser. The practice test gives you fifteen questions with a reason for every option.

Open the SY0-801 labs

Objectives by domain

Every published SY0-801 objective, grouped by the domain that carries it. The wording stays with CompTIA.

27 objectives

Security concepts16% of the exam

1.1Security controls
1.2Change management
1.3Cryptography

Threats and attacks24% of the exam

2.1Threats & vulnerabilities
2.2Threat actors
2.3Threat vectors
2.4Vulnerability types
2.5Attack indicators
2.6AI risks

Architecture19% of the exam

3.1Architecture models
3.2Secure infrastructure
3.3Data protection
3.4Resilience & recovery

Operations27% of the examStart here

4.1Mitigation controls
4.2Asset management
4.3Vulnerability management
4.4Monitoring & alerting
4.5Identity & access
4.6Automation & orchestration
4.7Incident response
4.8Investigation data

Program oversight14% of the exam

5.1Governance artifacts
5.2Risk management
5.3Third-party risk
5.4Compliance
5.5Audits & assessments
5.6Security awareness

The full entry for each objective (the explainer, key terms, traps and practice questions) lives in the Study Book. One objective per certification is free to read; Pro opens the rest.

Questions about this exam

90 questions in 90 minutes. 750 to pass on the 100 to 900 scale. Domains: Security concepts (16%), Threats and attacks (24%), Architecture (19%), Operations (27%), Program oversight (14%).

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