Preface

In the ever-evolving world of information security, the CompTIA Security+ certification stands as a benchmark for cybersecurity proficiency that equips professionals with the necessary skills to secure a network and manage risk effectively. This guide, tailored for the latest CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 exam, is designed as a comprehensive resource to master the CompTIA Security+ exam.

This brand new exam guide from Ian Neil, one of the world’s top Security+ trainers, and Packt Publishing is specifically written for the 701 exam, and covers the five critical domains of the new exam:

Domain 1

General Security Concepts: This domain covers various types of security controls, including technical, managerial, operational, and physical aspects

Domain 2

Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Mitigations: This domain covers common threat actors, their motivations, and various threat vectors, along with understanding different types of vulnerabilities

Domain 3

Security Architecture: This domain covers the security implications of different architecture models, including cloud, serverless, microservices, and network infrastructure

Domain 4

Security Operations: This domain covers common security techniques for computing resources, understanding the security implications of hardware, software, and data asset management, and diving into the realms of vulnerability management and security alerting

Domain 5

Security Program Management and Oversight: This domain covers the various elements of effective security governance, risk management, third-party risk assessment, compliance, audits, and security awareness practices.

By the end of this guide, you will not only be well-prepared to ace the CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 exam but also possess the confidence to implement and oversee comprehensive security measures in any organization. This book is an essential tool for anyone aspiring to become a proficient cybersecurity professional in today’s ever-evolving digital landscape.

Who This Book Is For

This book helps you build a comprehensive foundation in cybersecurity, and prepares you to overcome the challenges of today’s digital world. Whether you’re pursuing a career in cybersecurity or looking to enhance your existing knowledge, this book is your ultimate guide to passing the SY0-701 exam.

What This Book Covers

To help you easily revise for the new CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 exam, this book has been organized to directly reflect the structure of the exam. The book is separated into 5 sections, reflecting the core domains. Each section includes one chapter per exam objective. Each chapter is organized by the core competencies as stated in CompTIA 701 exam outline.

Domain 1: General Security Concepts

Chapter 1, Compare and contrast various types of security controls, gives an overview of different categories (technical, managerial, operational, physical) and types (preventive, deterrent, detective, corrective, compensating, directive) of security controls.

Chapter 2, Summarize fundamental security concepts, introduces key security concepts like CIA, non-repudiation, AAA, gap analysis, zero trust, physical security, and deception and disruption technology.

Chapter 3, Explain the importance of change management processes and the impact to security, discusses the significance of change management in security, covering business processes, technical implications, documentation, and version control.

Chapter 4, Explain the importance of using appropriate cryptographic solutions, details the use of cryptographic solutions like PKI, encryption levels, tools, obfuscation, hashing, digital signatures, and certificates.

Domain 2: Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Mitigations

Chapter 5, Compare and contrast common threat actors and motivations, examines various threat actors (nation-state, unskilled attacker, hacktivist, etc.) and their motivations like data exfiltration, espionage, and service disruption.

Chapter 6, Explain common threat vectors and attack surfaces, explores different threat vectors and attack surfaces, including message-based, image-based, file-based threats, and human vectors.

Chapter 7, Explain various types of vulnerabilities, discusses a range of vulnerabilities in applications, operating systems, hardware, cloud, and more.

Chapter 8, Given a scenario, analyze indicators of malicious activity, outlines how to identify indicators of malicious activities like malware attacks, physical attacks, and network attacks.

Chapter 9, Explain the purpose of mitigation techniques used to secure the enterprise, details the various mitigation techniques like segmentation, encryption, monitoring, and hardening techniques.

Domain 3: Security Architecture

Chapter 10, Compare and contrast security implications of different architecture models, compares security implications in different architecture models like cloud, IaC, serverless, microservices, and network infrastructure.

Chapter 11, Given a scenario, apply security principles to secure enterprise infrastructure, focuses on applying security principles in different infrastructure scenarios including device placement, security zones, and network appliances.

Chapter 12, Compare and contrast concepts and strategies to protect data, discusses strategies and concepts for data protection including data types, classifications, and methods to secure data.

Chapter 13, Explain the importance of resilience and recovery in security architecture, highlights the importance of resilience and recovery, covering high availability, site considerations, testing, backups, and power management.

Domain 4: Security Operations

Chapter 14, Given a scenario, apply common security techniques to computing resources, covers securing computing resources through secure baselines, hardening targets, wireless security settings, and application security.

Chapter 15, Explain the security implications of proper hardware, software, and data asset management, discusses the implications of asset management in security, focusing on acquisition, monitoring, and disposal processes.

Chapter 16, Explain various activities associated with vulnerability management, details activities in vulnerability management including identification methods, analysis, response, and reporting.

Chapter 17, Explain security alerting and monitoring concepts and tools, explores concepts and tools for security alerting and monitoring like SCAP, SIEM, antivirus, and DLP.

Chapter 18, Given a scenario, modify enterprise capabilities to enhance security, focuses on modifying enterprise security capabilities using tools and strategies like firewalls, IDS/IPS, web filters, and secure protocols.

Chapter 19, Given a scenario, implement and maintain identity and access management, discusses implementation and maintenance of identity and access management, including multifactor authentication and password concepts.

Chapter 20, Explain the importance of automation and orchestration related to secure operations, highlights the role of automation and orchestration in security operations, discussing use cases, benefits, and other considerations.

Chapter 21, Explain appropriate incident response activities, details the processes and activities involved in incident response, including preparation, analysis, containment, and recovery.

Chapter 22, Given a scenario, use data sources to support an investigation, discusses using various data sources like log data and automated reports to support security investigations.

Domain 5: Security Program Management and Oversight

Chapter 23, Summarize elements of effective security governance, summarizes key elements of security governance including guidelines, policies, standards, and procedures.

Chapter 24, Explain elements of the risk management process, focuses on elements of security governance related to risk management, covering risk identification, assessment, analysis, and management strategies.

Chapter 25, Explain the processes associated with third-party risk assessment and management, explores the processes involved in assessing and managing third-party risks, including vendor assessment, selection, and monitoring.

Chapter 26, Summarize elements of effective security compliance, summarizes the elements of effective security compliance, including reporting, monitoring, privacy, and legal implications.

Chapter 27, Explain types and purposes of audits and assessments, discusses various types of audits and assessments, including attestation, internal, external, and penetration testing.

Chapter 28, Given a scenario, implement security awareness practices, covers the implementation of security awareness practices in different scenarios, focusing on phishing, anomalous behavior recognition, and user guidance.

How to Use This Book

This CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 study guide takes every concept from the SY0-701 Security+ exam and explains it using clear, simple language and realistic examples. The book is your go-to resource for acing the SY0-701 exam with confidence.

End of Chapter Self-Assessment Questions

Each chapter ends with 10 knowledge assessment questions which you should use to check you have understood all the concepts in the chapter. Once you are ready, take the online practice exam, which has been designed to fully replicate the real exam.

Additional Online Resources

This book comes with additional online practice resources. You can find instructions for accessing them in Chapter 29, Accessing the online practice resources.

Download the Color Images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://packt.link/MltKf.

Conventions Used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “The problem that arises is that strcpy cannot limit the size of characters being copied.”

A block of code is set as follows:

  int fun (char data [256]) {

  int i

  char tmp [64], strcpy (tmp, data);

  }

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

  Set-ExecutionPolicy Restricted

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: “The SSID is still enabled. The administrator should check the box next to Disable Broadcast SSID.”

Tips or important notes

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Get in Touch

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