how i passed my Sec+ (SY0-701)

I just passed my Sec+ exam a few days ago with a score of 795, and wanted to document my process on here, so those that haven't taken the exam yet can hopefully learn a few things. I only studied for about 1 week, with minimal prior experience in Cybersecurity/IT but I think that a month of studying using the right materials, resources , and techniques will easily get most people 750+.

So just a disclaimer: this is just how I personally passed the exam. I'm not claiming that this is the best method out there, but I do think that it is certainly better than spending $200+ on textbooks and potentially more for bootcamps/courses etc. I also want to say that a fairly big part of the learning process uses the assistance of AI (chat GPT), but ONLY FOR LEARNING purposes. I do NOT condone cheating, nor do I think it's a good idea to try on a test as strictly proctored as this one.

Firstly, lets go over the materials. I spent around $35 total on studying for this test (exam voucher not included). here's the breakdown:

-Chat GPT+ ($20 monthly subscription, not required but HIGHLY recommended)
-Jason Dion's Practice Exams ($15 on Udemy)
-Professor Messer’s CompTIA SY0-701 Security+ Training Course (Free)

Now here's the learning structure:

First, you need to watch all of Professor Messer's videos on his website. They are great videos that break down the basics and covers absolutely every topic of the exam. The downside is that they don't go into extreme depth about each topic. The videos are also sorted by domains already. If you didn't already know, there's 5 domains covered by the test:

  • Attacks, Threats, and Vulnerabilities
    • Focuses on recognizing various threats, attacks, and vulnerabilities, including malware, social engineering, and advanced persistent threats.
  • Architecture and Design
    • Covers secure system design principles, cloud security, and the implementation of security controls for both on-premises and cloud environments.
  • Implementation
    • Emphasizes the deployment and implementation of secure networks, cryptographic solutions, and identity and access management controls.
  • Operations and Incident Response
    • Focuses on monitoring, detecting, and responding to security incidents, as well as performing digital forensics and using incident response procedures.
  • Governance, Risk, and Compliance
    • Covers risk management practices, compliance with regulations and standards, and security policies to ensure organizational governance.

Now that you've watched all the videos, you should have a very basic understanding over everything. It's okay if you don't remember everything, because the next step is to dig deep and gain a true understanding of what everything is and how they work. You never want to just sit there and try to memorize acronyms; that is the biggest waste of time in the world. Instead, try to actually gain an understanding of how these processes work and function together. This is where chat GPT comes in. You will take the practice exams with the assistance of GPT. There are 6 tests in Dion's practice exams, which totals to 540 questions overall. You will take the first test with the help of GPT, asking it to answer any questions you don't know, and prompting it to simplify the idea and explain it to you as if "you were 5 years old." Then, you want to take the next practice test alone, without the help of GPT. Keep alternating until you finish all 6 exams. Any questions that you missed while taking the exams, you need to thoroughly go over using GPT.

Good luck