Getting certified in CySa+
A few months ago I saw a forum post about a CySa+ (CS0-003) Beta exam. For 50 US Dollars I could do the exam. Registration for the Beta exam was opened, so I registered immediately. And now my journey started to the CySa+ certification. There are no study materials yet, since the course is new.
CompTIA CySa+ exam preperation
To prepare for the exam, I did read the exam objectives. I understood that there are two types of questions. The exam contains multiple choice questions and performance-based exercises on the exam. The passing score is 750 on a scale of 100-900 and 85 types of questions are asked withing 165 minutes… During the beta exam more questions should be answered. The domains have been adjusted in the new version. Instead of five domains, there are now the following four.
DOMAIN PERCENTAGE OF EXAMINATION
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| 1.0 Security Operations | 33% |
| 2.0 Vulnerability Management | 30% |
| 3.0 Incident Response and Management | 20% |
| 4.0 Reporting and Communication | 17% |
| Total | 100% |
Study material
When I had to prepare for the exam, no new study material was available. I decided to use the old material and therefore ordered: CompTIA CySA+ Certification Kit: Exam CS0-002 1st Edition (yes a hard copy) to read and take some notes from it.
As additional study material I also decided to use some videos from Andrei Ciorba on YouTube. Those videos could be played when I was travelling with public transport or just between some stuff while waiting.
Flashcards
Because I purchased the CompTIA CySA+ Study Guide Exam CS0-002 book, I also have access to the flashcards. I like to use these terms and concepts when, for example, I have to wait or when I travel by public transport.
Practice exams
When purchasing CompTIA CySA+ Certification Kit: Exam CS0-002, a book was packed with practice questions. Although it concerns the older version, topics from this version are also partly expected in the new exam. These practice questions are not perfect of course, but this makes it possible to learn certain topics. I used the practice questions to see if I mastered certain subjects.
The exam
I booked the exam just before Christmas, because I didn’t want to study during the holidays. The exam was in the morning on Monday December 19 (2022) at 09:00 AM. The exam started with performance based questions. These were easy to answer. However, it took me a while to find out how to do certain things in their software because certain things are emulated. The other questions were also doable. Although I felt I had taken the exam well, the results are not shared at that moment with you since it was a beta exam. So now the waiting for the email that would be sent sometime in May 2023.
The exam result
It’s been a while since I took the CySa+ exam. And it had slipped my mind for a while because I am preparing for the OSCP exam. But it was time I received an email that I passed. A nice surprise in between. I can’t say exactly what kind of questions are asked during the exam. But certainly, as long as there is no new material for this course (there probably will be now), I recommend that you use the older study material. Then look for the gaps between the old and new version of the CySa+ learning objectives. Search Google, Bing, duckduckgo or whatever search engine you use for those learning goals.