CertPath Score
9.2
/10
About this certification
CompTIA Security+ is the most widely held baseline security certification, validating core cybersecurity skills including threats, vulnerabilities, cryptography, identity management, and security operations. It's a DoD 8570-approved credential and required by many government and defense contractors.
What you'll validate
- ✓Threats, attacks, and vulnerabilities
- ✓Identity and access management
- ✓PKI and cryptography
- ✓Security architecture
- ✓Incident response
- ✓Risk management
Pros & Cons
Advantages
- +DoD 8570 approved — opens government/military roles
- +Vendor-neutral baseline security credential
- +Most recognized entry-level security cert
- +Strong foundation for CISSP or CEH
Disadvantages
- −Entry-level — not sufficient alone for senior roles
- −Renewal every 3 years
- −Higher cost than CompTIA A+/Network+
Who it's for
Best for
- →IT professionals pivoting to security
- →Anyone targeting government/DoD security roles
- →Network admins adding security credentials
Not ideal for
- ×Pure penetration testers (use CEH or OSCP)
- ×Senior security managers (use CISSP or CISM)
Career paths this unlocks
Study Guide
How to Pass CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 on Your First Try
Security+ is the most widely-held baseline security cert in the world — and the current SY0-701 version is meaningfully harder than SY0-601. This guide covers what changed, how to study efficiently, and the specific traps that fail candidates.
13 min read
Study Resources
Affiliate links — we may earn a commissionTop picks for Security+
CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) Complete Course
by Jason Dion
Security+ SY0-701 Practice Tests
by Jason Dion
CompTIA Security+ Study Guide (SY0-701)
by Mike Chapple & David Seidl
Register for the exam
Official vouchers — watch for bundle discounts and CompTIA CertMaster bundles
More places to study
Most popular cert prep courses, often on sale for $14.99
Highest-rated practice exams for AWS, Azure, and GCP
University-backed courses from Google, IBM, DeepLearning.AI
Practice tests and hands-on labs for 30+ cert tracks
Official study guides and exam prep books
Hands-on cloud sandboxes and cert prep subscriptions
1-month free trial — includes 21,000+ cert prep courses
CertPath earns a commission when you purchase through these links — at no extra cost to you. We only recommend resources we'd stand behind.
Jobs for Security+ holders
Security+ holders report $10k–$30k+ salary uplift on average.
LinkedIn Jobs
Updated daily
Indeed
Dice (tech roles)
Tech-focused job board
CyberSeek (cyber only)
NIST-backed supply/demand tool
Job links open external sites. Search results are live and not curated by CertPath.
Quick Facts
- Exam Cost
- $392
- Exam Duration
- 90 minutes
- Questions
- ~90
- Passing Score
- 750/900
- Exam Format
- Multiple Choice + Performance
- Study Time
- ~100 hours
- Validity
- 3 years
- Salary Impact
- Strong ($10k–$30k+ uplift reported)
- Certified Globally
- 700k+
Prerequisites
- !Network+ recommended; 2 years of IT experience with security focus
Actyra Training
Custom eLearning built on the science of how people actually learn
Actyra designs and builds cert-prep training programs for enterprise teams — custom courseware grounded in cognitive science.
Talk to a training expert →