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I was recently asked to give some comments about my experience taking the CompTIA Security+, and what recommendations I might have for someone planning to take it. While I’m absolutely not an expert, I thought I would also leave my thoughts here in the hopes that they might be helpful to someone:

For context this is something of step-by-step plan on how I would take the Security+ in one college semester (which I did). This can really apply to anyone who has other obligations than study though, just mark off a 3 to 4 month period in your calendar, then find the middle of that period and mark it. The planning I say I would do around midterms would be done at that point.

  1. Get the Cengage CompTIA Security+ Certification Kit [amazon link], it’s a comprehensive study guide, it’s currently around $50, and has in my experience basically everything you need to study, as well as a code for online practice tests. You don’t have to purchase an exam voucher immediately, you can track your progress to see if you’ll be ready in time to take the test, also, the Certification Kit has a code for 10% off your exam, so maybe wait until you have the book to get that discount. (You can also find these codes just generally around the internet if you feel like doing some OSINT <– learn that word ;)
  2. Make time to study the book! This may seem obvious, but it’s a relatively thick book, and the information is relatively intense so it’s pretty slow reading. I usually got up a little earlier than I normally would to read a little and then read some before I went to bed almost every night and usually ended up staying up later than normal. Your mileage will definitely vary, you just have to find time to do it while still making time for your classes.
  3. I would say by the midterm at the latest, start planning a time before the final that you can take it. At this point, you need to evaluate to see if you can finish studying the book by the time you would take the exam. If not, can you study the book more to get through it faster in the last half of the semester? I pick midterms as a milestone because you know you’re roughly halfway through the semester so should be a little over halfway through the book. (leave some time for study and review before the exam toward the end of the semester.)
  4. Once you’ve given yourself the sanity check that you can finish studying the exam guide in time, now actually schedule the exam. In my case, I bought the single exam voucher, which with the 10% discount was around $350. The deluxe bundle comes with an exam guide, an exam voucher, and a re-take voucher, but you can save yourself almost $300 dollars if you follow the advice of Master Yoda: “Do or do not do. There is no try.” Seriously though, if can feel confident that you know all the material in the Cengage book, you can pass the exam first try.
  5. Decide whether to take it at a testing center or at home. Here’s where your personal preference may be vastly different than mine, but I came to LSU in the fall of 2020, and since then whenever I get the chance to avoid someone I can’t see staring at my face through a camera in high-stress situations, I take it. You might also want to consider going to a testing center simply because the testing center is responsible for equipment failure or network problems, so should something like that occur there would be a better chance that you’d get a refund or get to take it at a different time.
  6. No one is allowed to tell you exact details about the exam, including Cengage who published the book. As such don’t be surprised if the exam and its questions are slightly different from the practice tests you’ll be used to at this point. Just be sure to learn the concepts and not just the answers to the practice tests, and importantly, don’t freak out. If you’ve gotten this far you probably do better than you think.

Total Cost:
      ~$50  Cengage Study guide
     ~$350  Exam voucher
----------------
= ~$400 + many lost hours of sleep. I think it was worth it though.

Other Notes:

  1. I can’t say how much it actually may have helped with the exam, but I like to listen to cybersecurity-related podcasts throughout the day. It’s a great way to stay up to speed with what’s happening in the cybersecurity industry, as well as learn about some of the terms and technologies that cybersecurity professionals use. I’ve listed a few that might be helpful below:
    • Cyberwire Daily (this is daily news and updates about everything cybersecurity-related. Intended for security professionals, so might be a bit hard to get into at first. Anything by the Cyberwire is good, but if you only have time for one podcast in this list do the Cyberwire Daily.)
    • Security Now from This Week in Tech (I’ll be honest, this is a weekly podcast and each episode is usually around 2 hours long, so maybe only do it if you’re really into cybersecurity. Also, the hosts are both a bit older so it sometimes gives an “old man yells at cloud” feel, but it’s a different perspective from the Cyberwire)

  2. There are a few free pdf guides around the internet that claim to be study guides. I tried a few of them and to me, they did not seem to contain as much important information as a real study guide.

  3. Professor Messer Security+ training course on YouTube. I’ve never actually watched any of the videos, but I’ve heard things from other people on the internet who say it’s good. I would study the study guide as well.

Proverbs 24:27 | Duscuss posts at r/theScH_blog.

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