What is on the SY0-701 exam?

Up to 90 questions in 90 minutes, 750 to pass on the 100 to 900 scale. Domains: General security concepts (12%), Threats, vulnerabilities, and mitigations (22%), Security architecture (18%), Security operations (28%), Security program management and oversight (20%).

Which domain is worth the most?

Operations at 28% and Threats & mitigations at 22%. 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.

Start with General Security Concepts so the vocabulary (controls, crypto, AAA) is solid before threats.

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 5.0 (5.0), verified 2026-10-16. Exam owners change objectives and retirement dates, so confirm the date for your language before you book.

CertificationsSecurity+

CompTIA · SY0-701

CompTIA Security+ SY0-701

CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) is the baseline cybersecurity certification most SOC analyst and junior security job postings ask for. It covers a lot of ground (threats, architecture, operations, governance), and the exam leans on scenario questions, not memorization.

Switching into security from help desk or IT support, finishing Network+, or checking the box for a government or contracting role. No hands-on security job required before you start.

Study SY0-701 free

See labs Take the 10-question readiness check

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

This page

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.

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SY0-801

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.

Open the SY0-801 page

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 SY0-701 objectives. Start with the heaviest slice, not the first chapter.

Operations leads at 28%

28%Operations

How much study time does SY0-701 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

Start with General Security Concepts so the vocabulary (controls, crypto, AAA) is solid before threats.
Give Security Operations double time. At 28% it decides more of your score than any other domain.
Practice the simulations early: firewall rules, log reading, and attack matching show up first on exam day.
Finish with two full 90-question sittings under the 90-minute clock before you book.

Try one question

Live demo

Demo questionSecurity operations

A finance user receives a text: 'Payroll update failed. Sign in here to keep your direct deposit.' The link goes to a lookalike domain. The user has not clicked. What is the best next action?

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

56 performance-based questions are written for CompTIA Security+ SY0-701. 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.

Memorizing ports without the why. The exam asks which port to OPEN or BLOCK in a scenario.
Skimming governance (20%) because it feels boring. Policies, risk, and compliance questions are free points if you read carefully.
Treating every attack the same. Know the one detail that separates phishing from whaling from vishing.

Practise SY0-701, 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 SY0-701 labs

Objectives by domain

Every published SY0-701 objective, grouped by the domain that carries it. The wording stays with CompTIA.

28 objectives

Security concepts12% of the exam

1.1Security controls
1.2Core security ideas
1.3Change management
1.4Cryptography basics

Threats and mitigations22% of the exam

2.1Threat actors
2.2Attack surfaces
2.3Vulnerabilities
2.4Attack indicators
2.5Mitigation techniques

Architecture18% of the exam

3.1Architecture models
3.2Securing infrastructure
3.3Protecting data
3.4Resilience & recovery

Operations28% of the examStart here

4.1Hardening resources
4.2Asset management
4.3Vuln management
4.4Alerting & monitoring
4.5Enterprise defenses
4.6Identity & access
4.7Automation
4.8Incident response
4.9Investigation data

Program oversight20% of the exam

5.1Governance
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 (12%), Threats and mitigations (22%), Architecture (18%), Operations (28%), Program oversight (20%).

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