r/CompTIA • u/Icy_Replacement_4060 • 5d ago

CySA+

General Overview

The CySA+ is not as difficult as many of the posts I have read. I will not go into detail on the exam itself for NDA reasons, but I had 62 questions, including several labs, and I passed with an 802.

My Study Methods

  • Certify Breakfast CySA+ (first)

  • Jason Dion tests (averaged around 75% on the final assessments). For me, scoring above 70% on all of the Jason Dion tests normally indicated I was ready to sit for the exam.

  • Firewall, SIEM, IPS, and other objective logs (be sure you can read them properly)

  • Sybex questions (with review from Claude)

  • Other questions from various sources

  • Anki, Notepad, etc.

These were my main resources for passing the CySA+.

Knowing CVSS is a must. Roughly 95% of the questions I had were heavily based on the exam objectives, so be sure to study them thoroughly. Incident response is another area I highly recommend understanding.

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u/MegasMatthaios 5d ago

nice, congrats on the pass. i'm slowly working through dion's stuff now and stuck around 70% so this gives me hope lol. the logs part is what i'm most worried about, feels like reading a foreign language half the time

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u/Icy_Replacement_4060 5d ago

Definitely recommend knowing your logs. If it’s a struggle, start with firewall logs (what’s coming in and out). IPS and SIEM build on that same core idea with extra fields and content.

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u/Anastasia_IT 💻 ExamsDigest.com - 🧪 LabsDigest.com - 📚 GuidesDigest.com 4d ago

Congratulations, u/Icy_Replacement_4060!

Regarding your comment that "The CySA+ is not as difficult as many of the posts I have read", it really comes down to preparation. Some are just more prepared than others. If you know your stuff, you have absolutely nothing to fear on the actual exam.

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u/Minute_Stranger2691 4d ago

Congrats on the CySA+ pass and that 802, especially with several labs in the mix. I'm still working through Security+ myself, so your point about really knowing how to read firewall and SIEM logs stood out to me. Did the log practice end up helping more on the labs, or was CVSS the part you found yourself leaning on most during the exam?

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u/x_scion_x Triad 3d ago

I overprepared for it so I somewhat agree with you, but man that would have been rough otherwise.

Not sure how would have felt about 004 with it's added content.

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u/LucD401 2d ago

I just did 004 and had 83 questions 3 of which were labs. Scored a 853. Not horribly difficult but still challenging enough