CompTIA Security+ (Security Plus) Exam Syllabus

Security+ PDF, SY0-501 Dumps, SY0-501 PDF, Security+ VCE, SY0-501 Questions PDF, CompTIA SY0-501 VCE, CompTIA Security Plus Dumps, CompTIA Security Plus PDF Use this quick start guide to collect all the information about CompTIA Security+ (SY0-501) Certification exam. This study guide provides a list of objectives and resources that will help you prepare for items on the SY0-501 Security+ 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 Security Plus certification exam.

The CompTIA Security+ certification is mainly targeted to those candidates who want to build their career in IT Security domain. The CompTIA Security+ exam verifies that the candidate possesses the fundamental knowledge and proven skills in the area of CompTIA Security Plus.

CompTIA Security+ Exam Summary:

Exam Name	CompTIA Security+
Exam Code	SY0-501
Exam Price	$370 (USD)
Duration	90 mins
Number of Questions	90
Passing Score	750 / 900
Schedule Exam	CompTIA Marketplace
Sample Questions	CompTIA Security+ Sample Questions
Practice Exam	CompTIA SY0-501 Certification Practice Exam

CompTIA SY0-501 Exam Syllabus Topics:

Topic	Details
Threats, Attacks and Vulnerabilities - 21%
Given a scenario, analyze indicators of compromise and determine the type of malware.	- Viruses - Crypto-malware - Ransomware - Worm - Trojan - Rootkit - Keylogger - Adware - Spyware - Bots - RAT - Logic bomb - Backdoor
Compare and contrast types of attacks.	1. Social engineering Phishing Spear phishing Whaling Vishing Tailgating Impersonation Dumpster diving Shoulder surfing Hoax Watering hole attack Principles (reasons for effectiveness) Authority Intimidation Consensus Scarcity Familiarity Trust Urgency 2. Application/service attacks DoS DDoS Man-in-the-middle Buffer overflow Injection Cross-site scripting Cross-site request forgery Privilege escalation ARP poisoning Amplification DNS poisoning Domain hijacking Man-in-the-browser Zero day Replay Pass the hash Hijacking and related attacks Clickjacking Session hijacking URL hijacking Typo squatting Driver manipulation Shimming Refactoring MAC spoofing IP spoofing 3. Wireless attacks Replay IV Evil twin Rogue AP Jamming WPS Bluejacking Bluesnarfing RFID NFC Disassociation 4. Cryptographic attacks Birthday Known plain text/cipher text Rainbow tables Dictionary Brute force Online vs. offline Collision Downgrade Replay Weak implementations
Explain threat actor types and attributes.	1. Types of actors Script kiddies Hacktivist Organized crime Nation states/APT Insiders Competitors 2. Attributes of actors Internal/external Level of sophistication Resources/funding Intent/motivation 3. Use of open-source intelligence
Explain penetration testing concepts.	- Active reconnaissance - Passive reconnaissance - Pivot - Initial exploitation - Persistence - Escalation of privilege - Black box - White box - Gray box - Penetration testing vs. vulnerability scanning
Explain vulnerability scanning concepts.	- Passively test security controls - Identify vulnerability - Identify lack of security controls - Identify common misconfigurations - Intrusive vs. non-intrusive - Credentialed vs. non-credentialed - False positive
Explain the impact associated with types of vulnerabilities.	1. Race conditions 2. Vulnerabilities due to: End-of-life systems Embedded systems Lack of vendor support 3. Improper input handling 4. Improper error handling 5. Misconfiguration/weak configuration 6. Default configuration 7. Resource exhaustion 8. Untrained users 9. Improperly configured accounts 10. Vulnerable business processes 11. Weak cipher suites and implementations 12. Memory/buffer vulnerability Memory leak Integer overflow Buffer overflow Pointer dereference DLL injection 13. System sprawl/undocumented assets 14. Architecture/design weaknesses 15. New threats/zero day 16. Improper certificate and key management
Technologies and Tools - 22%
Install and configure network components, both hardwareand software-based, to support organizational security.	1. Firewall ACL Application-based vs. network-based Stateful vs. stateless Implicit deny 2. VPN concentrator Remote access vs. site-to-site IPSec Tunnel mode Transport mode AH ESP Split tunnel vs. full tunnel TLS Always-on VPN 3. NIPS/NIDS Signature-based Heuristic/behavioral Anomaly Inline vs. passive In-band vs. out-of-band Rules Analytics False positive False negative 4. Router ACLs Antispoofing 5. Switch Port security Layer 2 vs. Layer 3 Loop prevention Flood guard 6. Proxy Forward and reverse proxy Transparent Application/multipurpose 7. Load balancer Scheduling Affinity Round-robin Active-passive Active-active Virtual IPs 8. Access point SSID MAC filtering Signal strength Band selection/width Antenna types and placement Fat vs. thin Controller-based vs. standalone 9. SIEM Aggregation Correlation Automated alerting and triggers Time synchronization Event deduplication Logs/WORM 10. DLP USB blocking Cloud-based Email 11. NAC Dissolvable vs. permanent Host health checks Agent vs. agentless 12. Mail gateway Spam filter DLP Encryption 13. Bridge 14. SSL/TLS accelerators 15. SSL decryptors 16. Media gateway 17. Hardware security module
Given a scenario, use appropriate software tools to assess the security posture of an organization.	1. Protocol analyzer 2. Network scanners Rogue system detection Network mapping 3. Wireless scanners/cracker 4. Password cracker 5. Vulnerability scanner 6. Configuration compliance scanner 7. Exploitation frameworks 8. Data sanitization tools 9. Steganography tools 10. Honeypot 11. Backup utilities 12. Banner grabbing 13. Passive vs. active 14. Command line tools ping netstat tracert nslookup/dig arp ipconfig/ip/ifconfig tcpdump nmap netcat
Given a scenario, troubleshoot common security issues.	1. Unencrypted credentials/clear text 2. Logs and events anomalies 3. Permission issues 4. Access violations 5. Certificate issues 6. Data exfiltration 7. Misconfigured devices Firewall Content filter Access points 8. Weak security configurations 9. Personnel issues Policy violation Insider threat Social engineering Social media Personal email 10. Unauthorized software 11. Baseline deviation 12. License compliance violation (availability/integrity) 13. Asset management 14. Authentication issues
Given a scenario, analyze and interpret output from security technologies.	1. HIDS/HIPS 2. Antivirus 3. File integrity check 4. Host-based firewall 5. Application whitelisting 6. Removable media control 7. Advanced malware tools 8. Patch management tools 9. UTM 10. DLP 11. Data execution prevention 12. Web application firewall
Given a scenario, deploy mobile devices securely.	1. Connection methods Cellular WiFi SATCOM Bluetooth NFC ANT Infrared USB 2. Mobile device management concepts Application management Content management Remote wipe Geofencing Geolocation Screen locks Push notification services Passwords and pins Biometrics Context-aware authentication Containerization Storage segmentation Full device encryption 3. Enforcement and monitoring for: Third-party app stores Rooting/jailbreaking Sideloading Custom firmware Carrier unlocking Firmware OTA updates Camera use SMS/MMS External media USB OTG Recording microphone GPS tagging WiFi direct/ad hoc Tethering Payment methods 4. Deployment models BYOD COPE CYOD Corporate-owned VDI
Given a scenario, implement secure protocols.	1. Protocols DNSSEC SSH S/MIME SRTP LDAPS FTPS SFTP SNMPv3 SSL/TLS HTTPS Secure POP/IMAP 2. Use cases Voice and video Time synchronization Email and web File transfer Directory services Remote access Domain name resolution Routing and switching Network address allocation Subscription services
Architecture and Design - 15%
Explain use cases and purpose for frameworks, best practices and secure configuration guides.	1. Industry-standard frameworks and reference architectures Regulatory Non-regulatory National vs. international Industry-specific frameworks 2. Benchmarks/secure configuration guides Platform/vendor-specific guides Web server Operating system Application server Network infrastructure devices General purpose guides 3. Defense-in-depth/layered security Vendor diversity Control diversity Administrative Technical User training
Given a scenario, implement secure network architecture concepts.	1. Zones/topologies DMZ Extranet Intranet Wireless Guest Honeynets NAT Ad hoc 2. Segregation/segmentation/isolation Physical Logical (VLAN) Virtualization Air gaps 3. Tunneling/VPN Site-to-site Remote access 4. Security device/technology placement Sensors Collectors Correlation engines Filters Proxies Firewalls VPN concentrators SSL accelerators Load balancers DDoS mitigator Aggregation switches Taps and port mirror 5. SDN
Given a scenario, implement secure systems design.	1. Hardware/firmware security FDE/SED TPM HSM UEFI/BIOS Secure boot and attestation Supply chain Hardware root of trust EMI/EMP 2. Operating systems Types Network Server Workstation Appliance Kiosk Mobile OS Patch management Disabling unnecessary ports and services Least functionality Secure configurations Trusted operating system Application whitelisting/blacklisting Disable default accounts/passwords 3. Peripherals Wireless keyboards Wireless mice Displays WiFi-enabled MicroSD cards Printers/MFDs External storage devices Digital cameras
Explain the importance of secure staging deployment concepts.	1. Sandboxing 2. Environment Development Test Staging Production 3. Secure baseline 4. Integrity measurement
Explain the security implications of embedded systems.	1. SCADA/ICS 2. Smart devices/IoT Wearable technology Home automation 3. HVAC 4. SoC 5. RTOS 6. Printers/MFDs 7. Camera systems 8. Special purpose Medical devices Vehicles Aircraft/UAV
Summarize secure application development and deployment concepts.	1. Development life-cycle models Waterfall vs. Agile 2. Secure DevOps Security automation Continuous integration Baselining Immutable systems Infrastructure as code 3. Version control and change management 4. Provisioning and deprovisioning 5. Secure coding techniques Proper error handling Proper input validation Normalization Stored procedures Code signing Encryption Obfuscation/camouflage Code reuse/dead code Server-side vs. client-side execution and validation Memory management Use of third-party libraries and SDKs Data exposure 6. Code quality and testing Static code analyzers Dynamic analysis (e.g., fuzzing) Stress testing Sandboxing Model verification 7. Compiled vs. runtime code
Summarize cloud and virtualization concepts.	1. Hypervisor Type I Type II Application cells/containers 2. VM sprawl avoidance 3. VM escape protection 4. Cloud storage 5. Cloud deployment models SaaS PaaS IaaS Private Public Hybrid Community 6. On-premise vs. hosted vs. cloud 7. VDI/VDE 8. Cloud access security broker 9. Security as a Service
Explain how resiliency and automation strategies reduce risk.	1. Automation/scripting Automated courses of action Continuous monitoring Configuration validation 2. Templates 3. Master image 4. Non-persistence Snapshots Revert to known state Rollback to known configuration Live boot media 5. Elasticity 6. Scalability 7. Distributive allocation 8. Redundancy 9. Fault tolerance 10. High availability 11. RAID
Explain the importance of physical security controls.	1. Lighting 2. Signs 3. Fencing/gate/cage 4. Security guards 5. Alarms 6. Safe 7. Secure cabinets/enclosures 8. Protected distribution/Protected cabling 9. Airgap 10. Mantrap 11. Faraday cage 12. Lock types 13. Biometrics 14. Barricades/bollards 15. Tokens/cards 16. Environmental controls HVAC Hot and cold aisles Fire suppression 17. Cable locks 18. Screen filters 19. Cameras 20. Motion detection 21. Logs 22. Infrared detection 23. Key management
Identity and Access Management - 16%
Compare and contrast identity and access management concepts	1. Identification, authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) 2. Multifactor authentication Something you are Something you have Something you know Somewhere you are Something you do 3. Federation 4. Single sign-on 5. Transitive trust
Given a scenario, install and configure identity and access services.	- LDAP - Kerberos - TACACS+ - CHAP - PAP - MSCHAP - RADIUS - SAML - OpenID Connect - OAUTH - Shibboleth - Secure token - NTLM
Given a scenario, implement identity and access management controls.	1. Access control models MAC DAC ABAC Role-based access control Rule-based access control 2. Physical access control Proximity cards Smart cards 3. Biometric factors Fingerprint scanner Retinal scanner Iris scanner Voice recognition Facial recognition False acceptance rate False rejection rate Crossover error rate 4. Tokens Hardware Software HOTP/TOTP 5. Certificate-based authentication PIV/CAC/smart card IEEE 802.1x 6. File system security 7. Database security
Given a scenario, differentiate common account management practices.	1. Account types User account Shared and generic accounts/credentials Guest accounts Service accounts Privileged accounts 2. General Concepts Least privilege Onboarding/offboarding Permission auditing and review Usage auditing and review Time-of-day restrictions Recertification Standard naming convention Account maintenance Group-based access control Location-based policies 3. Account policy enforcement Credential management Group policy Password complexity Expiration Recovery Disablement Lockout Password history Password reuse Password length
Risk Management - 14%
Explain the importance of policies, plans and procedures related to organizational security	1. Standard operating procedure 2. Agreement types BPA SLA ISA MOU/MOA 3. Personnel management Mandatory vacations Job rotation Separation of duties Clean desk Background checks Exit interviews Role-based awareness training Data owner System administrator System owner User Privileged user Executive user NDA Onboarding Continuing education Acceptable use policy/rules of behavior Adverse actions 4. General security policies Social media networks/applications Personal email
Summarize business impact analysis concepts.	1. RTO/RPO 2. MTBF 3. MTTR 4. Mission-essential functions 5. Identification of critical systems 6. Single point of failure 7. Impact Life Property Safety Finance Reputation 8. Privacy impact assessment 9. Privacy threshold assessment
Explain risk management processes and concepts.	1. Threat assessment Environmental Manmade Internal vs. external 2. Risk assessment SLE ALE ARO Asset value Risk register Likelihood of occurrence Supply chain assessment Impact Quantitative Qualitative Testing Penetration testing authorization Vulnerability testing authorization Risk response techniques Accept Transfer Avoid Mitigate 3. Change management
Given a scenario, follow incident response procedures.	1. Incident response plan Documented incident types/category definitions Roles and responsibilities Reporting requirements/escalation Cyber-incident response teams Exercise 2. Incident response process Preparation Identification Containment Eradication Recovery Lessons learned
Summarize basic concepts of forensics.	1. Order of volatility 2. Chain of custody 3. Legal hold 4. Data acquisition Capture system image Network traffic and logs Capture video Record time offset Take hashes Screenshots Witness interviews 5. Preservation 6. Recovery 7. Strategic intelligence/ counterintelligence gathering Active logging 8. Track man-hours
Explain disaster recovery and continuity of operation concepts.	1. Recovery sites Hot site Warm site Cold site 2. Order of restoration 3. Backup concepts Differential Incremental Snapshots Full 4. Geographic considerations Off-site backups Distance Location selection Legal implications Data sovereignty 5. Continuity of operation planning Exercises/tabletop After-action reports Failover Alternate processing sites Alternate business practices
Compare and contrast various types of controls.	- Deterrent - Preventive - Detective - Corrective - Compensating - Technical - Administrative - Physical
Given a scenario, carry out data security and privacy practices.	1. Data destruction and media sanitization Burning Shredding Pulping Pulverizing Degaussing Purging Wiping 2. Data sensitivity labeling and handling Confidential Private Public Proprietary PII PHI 3. Data roles Owner Steward/custodian Privacy officer 4. Data retention 5. Legal and compliance
Cryptography and PKI - 12%
Compare and contrast basic concepts of cryptography.	1. Symmetric algorithms 2. Modes of operation 3. Asymmetric algorithms 4. Hashing 5. Salt, IV, nonce 6. Elliptic curve 7. Weak/deprecated algorithms 8. Key exchange 9. Digital signatures 10. Diffusion 11. Confusion 12. Collision 13. Steganography 14. Obfuscation 15. Stream vs. block 16. Key strength 17. Session keys 18. Ephemeral key 19. Secret algorithm 20. Data-in-transit 21. Data-at-rest 22. Data-in-use 23. Random/pseudo-random number generation 24. Key stretching 25. Implementation vs. algorithm selection Crypto service provider Crypto modules 26. Perfect forward secrecy 27. Security through obscurity 28. Common use cases Low power devices Low latency High resiliency Supporting confidentiality Supporting integrity Supporting obfuscation Supporting authentication Supporting non-repudiation Resource vs. security constraints
Explain cryptography algorithms and their basic characteristics.	1. Symmetric algorithms AES DES 3DES RC4 Blowfish/Twofish 2. Cipher modes CBC GCM ECB CTR Stream vs. block 3. Asymmetric algorithms RSA DSA Diffie-Hellman Groups DHE ECDHE Elliptic curve PGP/GPG 4. Hashing algorithms MD5 SHA HMAC RIPEMD 5. Key stretching algorithms BCRYPT PBKDF2 6. Obfuscation XOR ROT13 Substitution ciphers
Given a scenario, install and configure wireless security settings.	1. Cryptographic protocols WPA WPA2 CCMP TKIP 2. Authentication protocols EAP PEAP EAP-FAST EAP-TLS EAP-TTLS IEEE 802.1x RADIUS Federation 3. Methods PSK vs. Enterprise vs. Open WPS Captive portals
Given a scenario, implement public key infrastructure.	1. Components CA Intermediate CA CRL OCSP CSR Certificate Public key Private key Object identifiers (OID) 2. Concepts Online vs. offline CA Stapling Pinning Trust model Key escrow Certificate chaining 3. Types of certificates Wildcard SAN Code signing Self-signed Machine/computer Email User Root Domain validation Extended validation 4. Certificate formats DER PEM PFX CER P12 P7B

To ensure success in CompTIA Security Plus certification exam, we recommend authorized training course, practice test and hands-on experience to prepare for Security+ (SY0-501) exam.

CompTIA Security+ (Security Plus) Exam Syllabus

CompTIA Security+ Exam Summary:

CompTIA SY0-501 Exam Syllabus Topics:

Threats, Attacks and Vulnerabilities - 21%

Technologies and Tools - 22%

Architecture and Design - 15%

Identity and Access Management - 16%

Risk Management - 14%

Cryptography and PKI - 12%

Menu

Blogs