Use this quick start guide to collect all the information about CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-003) Certification exam. This study guide provides a list of objectives and resources that will help you prepare for items on the PT0-003 CompTIA PenTest+ exam. The Sample Questions will help you identify the type and difficulty level of the questions and the Practice Exams will make you familiar with the format and environment of an exam. You should refer this guide carefully before attempting your actual CompTIA PenTest Plus certification exam.
The CompTIA PenTest+ certification is mainly targeted to those candidates who want to build their career in Cybersecurity domain. The CompTIA PenTest+ exam verifies that the candidate possesses the fundamental knowledge and proven skills in the area of CompTIA PenTest Plus.
CompTIA PenTest+ Exam Summary:
Exam Name | CompTIA PenTest+ |
Exam Code | PT0-003 |
Exam Price | $404 (USD) |
Duration | 165 mins |
Number of Questions | 90 |
Passing Score | 750 / 900 |
Books / Training |
CompTIA PenTest+ Certification Training Study Guides CertMaster Perform PenTest+ |
Schedule Exam | Pearson VUE |
Sample Questions | CompTIA PenTest+ Sample Questions |
Practice Exam | CompTIA PT0-003 Certification Practice Exam |
CompTIA PT0-003 Exam Syllabus Topics:
Topic | Details |
---|---|
Engagement Management - 13% |
|
Summarize pre-engagement activities. |
- Scope definition
- Shared responsibility model
- Legal and ethical considerations
|
Explain collaboration and communication activities. |
- Peer review - Stakeholder alignment - Root cause analysis - Escalation path - Secure distribution - Articulation of risk, severity, and impact - Goal reprioritization - Business impact analysis - Client acceptance |
Compare and contrast testing frameworks and methodologies. |
- Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM) - Council of Registered Ethical Security Testers (CREST) - Penetration Testing Execution Standard(PTES) - MITRE ATT&CK - Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP) Top 10 - OWASP Mobile Application Security Verification Standard (MASVS) - Purdue model - Threat modeling frameworks
|
Explain the components of a penetration test report. |
- Format alignment - Documentation specifications - Risk scoring - Definitions - Report components
- Test limitations and assumptions
|
Given a scenario, analyze the findings and recommend the appropriate remediation within a report. |
- Technical controls
- Administrative controls
- Operational controls
- Physical controls
|
Reconnaissance and Enumeration - 21% |
|
Given a scenario, apply information gathering techniques. |
- Active and passive reconnaissance - Open-source intelligence (OSINT)
- Network reconnaissance
- Certificate transparency logs
- Banner grabbing |
Given a scenario, apply enumeration techniques. |
- Operating system (OS) fingerprinting - Service discovery - Protocol enumeration - DNS enumeration - Directory enumeration - Host discovery - Share enumeration - Local user enumeration - Email account enumeration - Wireless enumeration - Permission enumeration - Secrets enumeration
- Attack path mapping
- Web crawling
|
Given a scenario, modify scripts for reconnaissance and enumeration. |
- Information gathering - Data manipulation - Scripting languages
- Logic constructs
- Use of libraries, functions,and classes |
Given a scenario, use the appropriate tools for reconnaissance and enumeration. |
- Wayback Machine - Maltego - Recon-ng - Shodan - SpiderFoot - WHOIS - nslookup/dig - Censys.io - Hunter.io - DNSdumpster - Amass - Nmap
- theHarvester |
Vulnerability Discovery and Analysis - 17% |
|
Given a scenario, conduct vulnerability discovery using various techniques. |
- Types of scans
- Industrial control systems (ICS) vulnerability assessment
- Tools
|
Given a scenario, analyze output from reconnaissance, scanning, and enumeration phases. |
- Validate scan, reconnaissance, and enumeration results
- Public exploit selection |
Explain physical security concepts. |
- Tailgating - Site surveys - Universal Serial Bus (USB) drops - Badge cloning - Lock picking |
Attacks and Exploits - 35% |
|
Given a scenario, analyze output to prioritize and prepare attacks. |
- Target prioritization
- Capability selection
|
Given a scenario, perform network attacks using the appropriate tools. |
- Attack types
- Tools
|
Given a scenario, perform authentication attacks using the appropriate tools. |
- Attack types
- Tools
|
Given a scenario, perform host-based attacks using the appropriate tools. |
- Attack types
- Tools
|
Given a scenario, perform web application attacks using the appropriate tools. |
- Attack types
- Tools
|
Given a scenario, perform cloud-based attacks using the appropriate tools. |
- Attack types
- Tools
|
Given a scenario, perform wireless attacks using the appropriate tools. |
- Attacks
- Tools
|
Given a scenario, perform social engineering attacks using the appropriate tools. |
- Attack types
- Tools
|
Explain common attacks against specialized systems. |
- Attack types
- Tools
|
Given a scenario, use scripting to automate attacks. |
- PowerShell
- Bash
- Python
- Breach and attack simulation (BAS)
|
Post-exploitation and Lateral Movement - 14% |
|
Given a scenario, perform tasks to establish and maintain persistence. |
- Scheduled tasks/cron jobs - Service creation - Reverse shell - Bind shell - Add new accounts - Obtain valid account credentials - Registry keys - Command and control (C2) frameworks - Backdoor
- Rootkit |
Given a scenario, perform tasks to move laterally throughout the environment. |
- Pivoting - Relay creation - Enumeration
- Service discovery
- Window Management Instrumentation(WMI)
|
Summarize concepts related to staging and exfiltration. |
- File encryption and compression - Covert channe
- Email |
Explain cleanup and restoration activities. |
- Remove persistence mechanisms - Revert configuration changes - Remove tester-created credentials - Remove tools - Spin down infrastructure - Preserve artifacts - Secure data destruction |
To ensure success in CompTIA PenTest Plus certification exam, we recommend authorized training course, practice test and hands-on experience to prepare for CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-003) exam.