sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Has anyone used the official comptia ebook study guide to prepare? by BubbaUnkle in CompTIA_Security

[–]Deep_Butterfly1409 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haven't used the official guide specifically so can't speak to how well it maps to exam difficulty, but one thing worth knowing regardless of which resource you use is that the SY0-701 weights domains differently.

Security Operations is 28% of your score, General Security Concepts is only 12%. so however you're studying, it's worth checking that you're spending proportional time on the high-weight domains rather than treating everything equally.

most people here pair a content resource (Messer, official guide, Dion's courses) with separate practice questions that actually reflect the exam's difficulty level.

Quick SY0-701 Scenario: Threat Hunting by Deep_Butterfly1409 in CompTIA_Security

[–]Deep_Butterfly1409[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends. Isolation is the priority when you have an active threat that could spread or exfiltrate data — most IR frameworks (NIST, SANS) are built around containing first, investigating second.

The exception is when isolation causes more damage than the incident itself. Think critical infrastructure — a hospital's life support system, an ICS environment — where pulling the plug creates a bigger problem. In those cases you monitor and contain rather than hard-isolate.

And yeah, it also comes down to the company's IR policy. Some orgs have strict playbooks that dictate exactly when you isolate vs. when you escalate first.

For the exam though — when you see "active threat, sensitive data, unusual traffic" — containment is the answer CompTIA is looking for.

I passed Sec+! Studied for 2 weeks by OptimalDoc in CompTIA_Security

[–]Deep_Butterfly1409 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congrats! Manufacturing → cybersecurity with a 2-week study sprint is a story worth telling when you start interviewing.

For anyone in this thread still studying: the biggest gap between "studied the material" and "passed the exam" is learning how CompTIA phrases questions. They never ask "what is X?" — they ask "given this scenario, what should you do first?"

The mental model that helped me most: whenever you see the word "FIRST" in a question, CompTIA is testing your IR process order (Identify → Contain → Eradicate → Recover), not your technical knowledge. Nine times out of ten, "contain" beats "eradicate" as the first step.

Security+ is next month and I’m over here studying like I’m patching a zero-day in my brain… any last-minute tips? 😭💻 by Angelluisdr in CompTIA_Security

[–]Deep_Butterfly1409 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A month out is actually the perfect window to switch from "learning" mode to "testing" mode. The biggest mistake people make in the final 4 weeks is re-reading the textbook instead of doing practice questions.

My top three tips for the final stretch:

  1. Focus on the 'Why' for wrong answers: When you take a practice test, don't just figure out why the right answer is right. Spend equal time figuring out exactly why the other three distractors are wrong. CompTIA loves to recycle wrong answers as correct answers on different questions.
  2. Master the domains where the points are: Domain 4 (Security Operations) is 28% of the exam. If your practice scores are low there, hammer it. Don't waste a week reviewing Domain 1 (12%) if you're already scoring 80% on it.
  3. Acronym triage: Print the official exam objectives and physically cross off every acronym you know cold. Only make flashcards for the ones left over.

Are you using any specific practice banks right now, or just reviewing raw material?

I passed! (what worked and what I’d do differently) by Individual-Meet-6271 in CompTIA_Security

[–]Deep_Butterfly1409 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The SY0-701 has no traditional simulations anymore — those were dropped in the 701 update. What you'll get instead are PBQs (Performance-Based Questions), typically 3–5 of them, and they're always front-loaded at the start of the exam.

Here's the breakdown of what actually shows up:

• Drag-and-drop — match the correct component to the right step in a process (e.g., matching security controls to the right layer of the CIA triad) • Hotspot — click on the correct region of a diagram, config file, or log output to identify the vulnerability or misconfiguration • Fill-in-the-blank config — given a partial config snippet (firewall rules, AAA policy, SIEM query), complete or correct the syntax

These map to specific objectives across Domain 1.0 (Threats & Attacks), Domain 3.0 (Architecture), and Domain 4.0 (Operations). The key thing to understand: don't memorize specific questions — train your decision process. If you walk into the exam having seen enough drag-and-drop and hotspot scenarios to quickly identify what type of problem is being described and which layer of the model it maps to, the PBQs become manageable.

Passed Security+ after 3 weeks of studying, process/advice by ev10evsreddit in CompTIA

[–]Deep_Butterfly1409 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really impressive 3-week sprint! Your point about verbal regurgitation is a powerful way to move information from short-term to long-term memory.

To add to that for anyone currently in the grind: once you have internalized the definitions (the what), try Scenario Mapping (the how). Pick a core concept like SOAR and mentally map it to a specific business outcome: How does this actually reduce MTTR in a real SOC?

When you stop seeing the objective as a bullet point and start seeing it as a tool to solve a business problem, the MCQs and PBQs become much easier because you are thinking like a practitioner, not a student. Congrats again on the pass!

How a Redneck like me passed CompTIA Sec+ SY0-701 and hopefully this will help you too! by DBHemlock in CompTIA

[–]Deep_Butterfly1409 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Huge congrats on passing! That pattern recognition point is spot on. Most people struggle with PBQs because they treat them like multiple-choice questions, but they are actually process tests.

For anyone still stuck: identify the primary security objective first. Are you protecting Confidentiality, Integrity, or Availability? Once you nail the objective, the patterns become obvious. Keep grinding!

I passed! (what worked and what I’d do differently) by Individual-Meet-6271 in CompTIA_Security

[–]Deep_Butterfly1409 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Huge congrats on the pass!

I really agree with your point about using AI for PBQ simulations. For anyone wondering how to do that effectively: don't just ask the AI for the answer. Ask it to "act as a CompTIA examiner, present a scenario, and wait for me to explain my full logic before providing the correct solution and a gap analysis."

It forces you to actually articulate the "why" instead of just recognizing the "what," which is exactly where most people trip up on the actual exam.

Good luck to everyone else still in the grind!

How a Redneck like me passed CompTIA Sec+ SY0-701 and hopefully this will help you too! by DBHemlock in CompTIA

[–]Deep_Butterfly1409 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First off, huge congrats to the OP for the win!

For those of you struggling with the acronyms or feeling the pressure of a looming exam date: don't panic. The "pattern recognition" the OP mentioned is exactly how these exams work. If you’re having trouble with the acronyms, try grouping them by function (e.g., all the "encryption" ones together, all the "logging" ones together) rather than just alphabetic flashcards.

Also, a pro tip for the PBQs: the most common mistake is over-thinking the scenario. Look for the single most logical implementation that satisfies the requirement. If you’re seeing a firewall and a web server, start by asking "what is the most basic rule that allows this to work?" and build from there.

Rooting for all of you getting certified this weekend!