CompTIA Security+

Compare and contrast various types of security controls

• Types of Security ControlsControls are classified on two independent axes: who implements them, and what they do. Confusing the two axes is what most often costs students marks on this objective.4 min read

Summarize fundamental security concepts

• Fundamental Security ConceptsThe CIA triad and non-repudiation, the difference between authentication and authorisation, Zero Trust across its two planes, and deception technology.5 min read

Explain the importance of change management processes and the impact to security

• Change Management and Its Security ImpactWhy unmanaged change causes outages and vulnerabilities alike, and what separates an approved change from tampering: approval, impact analysis, a backout plan, and documentation.5 min read

Explain the importance of using appropriate cryptographic solutions

• Cryptographic SolutionsWhen to use symmetric encryption and when to use asymmetric, why hashing is not encryption, and how certificates and digital signatures build trust between two parties that have never met.7 min read

Compare and contrast common threat actors and motivations

• Threat Actors and MotivationsWho attacks you decides how you defend. Six kinds of actor differ in resources, capability and motive — and the question describes an attack and waits for you to name whose it is.4 min read

Explain common threat vectors and attack surfaces

• Threat Vectors and Attack SurfacesThe attack surface is everything that could be attacked; the vector is the route actually taken. The most used vector is not technical — it is the person.4 min read

Explain various types of vulnerabilities

• Types of VulnerabilitiesA vulnerability is a weakness, a threat is who exploits it, and risk is the chance of that happening and what it costs. Three concepts the exam deliberately blurs — before asking about the weaknesses themselves.4 min read

Given a scenario, analyze indicators of malicious activity

• Analysing Indicators of Malicious ActivityThe only objective in this domain that begins "given a scenario". You are handed indicators — a log line, a machine's behaviour, a login pattern — and asked to name the attack.4 min read

Explain the purpose of mitigation techniques used to secure the enterprise

• Mitigation TechniquesHaving covered who attacks, how, and where the weakness is, this objective is the response: what you actually do to reduce the risk — and the question asks for the most appropriate, not the strongest.4 min read

Compare and contrast security implications of different architecture models

• Architecture Models and Their Security ImplicationsThere is no secure model and insecure model. Each one trades one risk for another and moves who carries responsibility — and the question is about that trade.4 min read

Given a scenario, apply security principles to secure enterprise infrastructure

• Securing Enterprise InfrastructureWhere you place a device, what it does when it fails, and how you reach it safely from afar. A practical objective, asked as "given a scenario".3 min read

Compare and contrast concepts and strategies to protect data

• Protecting DataNot all data is protected to the same degree. Classification decides the control, state decides the tool, and sovereignty decides the location.4 min read

Explain the importance of resilience and recovery in security architecture

• Resilience and RecoveryRecovery is not measured by having a backup but by two numbers: how much downtime we tolerate, and how much data loss.4 min read

Given a scenario, apply common security techniques to computing resources

• Securing Computing ResourcesA secure baseline is where every device starts, and drift from it is what you watch. With it: mobile, wireless, applications and sandboxing.3 min read

Explain the security implications of proper hardware, software, and data asset management

• Asset ManagementWhat is not known to exist cannot be protected. Inventory is not administrative work but the precondition for every other control — and disposal is a full security stage.3 min read

Explain various activities associated with vulnerability management

• Vulnerability ManagementA continuous cycle, not a project: discover, analyse and prioritise, remediate, then verify. Prioritisation is its hardest step.3 min read

Explain security alerting and monitoring concepts and tools

• Alerting and MonitoringMonitoring prevents nothing, yet it is what decides how large the damage gets. Its real enemy is not too little data but too much.3 min read

Given a scenario, modify enterprise capabilities to enhance security

• Enhancing Enterprise CapabilitiesThe tools that are tuned rather than bought: firewalls, DNS filtering, email security, data loss prevention, network access control, and endpoint protection.3 min read

Given a scenario, implement and maintain identity and access management

• Identity and Access ManagementThe account lifecycle from creation to revocation, the access control models, multi-factor authentication, and privileged access management.3 min read

Explain the importance of automation and orchestration related to secure operations

• Automation and OrchestrationAutomation makes the right thing consistent, and the wrong thing consistent too. Its gains are real, and its price is complexity and a single point of failure.2 min read

Explain appropriate incident response activities

• Incident ResponseSeven phases in an order that is not rearranged: containment before eradication, and preparation before everything — because it cannot be built during the incident.4 min read

Given a scenario, use data sources to support an investigation

• Data Sources for InvestigationThe domain's last objective: which log answers which question. An investigation does not start by collecting everything but by knowing where to look.3 min read

Summarize elements of effective security governance

• Security GovernanceWho decides, under which document, and who answers for it. Four document types the exam deliberately blurs: policy, standard, procedure and guideline.3 min read

Explain elements of the risk management process

• Risk ManagementRisk is not eliminated but managed. Only four strategies for handling it, one register that tracks it, and two figures bounding what the organisation accepts.4 min read

Explain the processes associated with third-party risk assessment and management

• Third-Party RiskYou can outsource the work and not the accountability. Your supplier's breach is your breach, and the agreement is the only instrument you hold.3 min read

Summarize elements of effective security compliance

• Security ComplianceCompliance is not security, and failing it is not merely a fine. An objective that separates what a regulator imposes from what actually protects you.3 min read

Explain types and purposes of audits and assessments

• Audits and AssessmentsWho examines, for whom, and under what authorisation. What separates internal audit, external audit and penetration testing is purpose and independence, not tooling.3 min read

Given a scenario, implement security awareness practices

• Security Awareness PracticesThe last objective in the syllabus and the most practical: how to make an employee a working control instead of the easiest vector.3 min read