{"id":3778,"date":"2025-05-08T11:54:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T11:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/?p=3778"},"modified":"2026-10-20T18:28:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T18:28:43","slug":"is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/","title":{"rendered":"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701?"},"content":{"rendered":"<nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"article-breadcrumbs\"><a href=\"\/certification\/\">Home<\/a><span>\/<\/span><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/\">Certifications<\/a><span>\/<\/span><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/comptia\/\">CompTIA<\/a><span>\/<\/span><span>How Difficult Is Security+ SY0-701?<\/span><\/nav>\n<div class=\"editorial-article-shell\"><div class=\"editorial-article-main\">\n<div class=\"article-kicker-row\"><a class=\"article-kicker\" href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/comptia\/\">CompTIA<\/a><span class=\"article-meta\">Updated October 9, 2026 \u00b7 14 min read<\/span><\/div>\n<p class=\"article-deck\">CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 is challenging because it asks you to connect a broad set of security concepts under time pressure, not because every individual topic is highly specialized. The difficulty changes with your background: a network administrator may find segmentation familiar but struggle with governance, while a compliance professional may experience the reverse. The most useful question is therefore not whether Security+ is objectively hard, but which parts are hard for you and what evidence shows those gaps are closing.<\/p>\n<details class=\"article-toc\" open=\"\"><summary>On this page<\/summary><ol><li><a href=\"#what-actually-makes-sy0-701-difficult\">What actually makes SY0-701 difficult<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#scenario-reasoning-matters-more-than-recognizing-terms\">Scenario reasoning matters more than recognizing terms<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#your-technical-background-changes-which-questions-feel-difficult\">Your technical background changes which questions feel difficult<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#performance-based-questions-reward-workflow-knowledge\">Performance-based questions reward workflow knowledge<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#how-long-preparation-may-take\">How long preparation may take<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#use-practice-questions-diagnostically-not-as-a-memory-contest\">Use practice questions diagnostically, not as a memory contest<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#signs-that-you-are-approaching-exam-readiness\">Signs that you are approaching exam readiness<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#difficulty-checklist-for-sy0-701\">Difficulty checklist for SY0-701<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/details>\n<article class=\"corrected-editorial-body\">\n<h2 id=\"what-actually-makes-sy0-701-difficult\">What actually makes SY0-701 difficult<\/h2>\n<p>Security+ covers many areas that normally belong to different teams: identity, networking, cloud, endpoints, cryptography, incident response, vulnerability management, risk, governance, and data protection. The exam does not require expert-level depth in every area, but it expects enough understanding to choose between several plausible controls or actions in a scenario. That combination of breadth and judgment is what surprises many candidates. A definition can look familiar while the scenario still feels difficult because the exam asks which option is best under a specific constraint. A <a href=\"\/certification\/mastering-comptia-security-sy0-701-your-complete-study-guide\/\">domain-by-domain SY0-701 study approach<\/a> helps candidates identify weak foundations before investing in deeper specialty study.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-subheading\" style=\"font-size:20px!important;line-height:1.36!important;margin:26px 0 12px!important;font-weight:650!important\">Breadth is the first major challenge<\/h3>\n<p>A candidate can be strong in one technical domain and still encounter unfamiliar material elsewhere. Network professionals may know firewalls and routing but have less experience with audits, risk registers, or data governance. Cloud professionals may understand IAM and shared responsibility but need more practice with incident evidence, PKI, or endpoint operations. People entering from governance can have the opposite profile. The current exam has five domains, and none can be ignored. Even the smallest domain introduces concepts that reappear inside larger scenario questions.<\/p>\n<p>Build a domain map early. Mark topics as strong, familiar, weak, or new so study time follows your actual gaps rather than the order of a course.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"scenario-reasoning-matters-more-than-recognizing-terms\">Scenario reasoning matters more than recognizing terms<\/h2>\n<p>Many difficult questions include several answers that are technically valid. The task is to identify which one best satisfies the stated objective, sequence, limitation, or risk. If the requirement is immediate containment, a long-term architecture improvement may be a good idea but still not be the best answer. If the question asks for prevention, a detective control can be valuable without solving the stated requirement.<\/p>\n<p>Distinguish preventive, detective, corrective, directive, deterrent, and compensating <a href=\"\/certification\/comptia-sy0-701-security-controls-by-real-world-purpose\/\">security control functions<\/a> by what each is meant to accomplish in the scenario. Practice translating every scenario into asset, threat or failure, required outcome, constraints, and evidence. That structure makes unfamiliar wording easier to reason through.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-subheading\" style=\"font-size:20px!important;line-height:1.36!important;margin:26px 0 12px!important;font-weight:650!important\">Security Operations carries the largest share of the current blueprint<\/h3>\n<p>Security Operations represents 28% of the current <a href=\"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/sy0-701-exam.html\">CompTIA Security+ SY0-701<\/a> blueprint, making it the largest domain. It includes monitoring, vulnerability management, identity operations, hardening, incident response, automation, and operational security practices. Candidates who study mainly definitions can struggle here because operations questions often depend on workflow. You may need to decide what evidence to collect, what to do first, or how to validate that a control worked.<\/p>\n<p>Practice <a href=\"\/certification\/how-to-read-a-siem-alert-in-context\/\">SIEM alert triage<\/a>, <a href=\"\/certification\/vulnerability-management-beyond-the-scanner\/\">vulnerability management<\/a>, and incident-response reasoning rather than only reviewing terms. Because operations overlaps with several other domains, improving it can also strengthen architecture, identity, risk, and threat questions.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"your-technical-background-changes-which-questions-feel-difficult\">Your technical background changes which questions feel difficult<\/h2>\n<p>Someone with daily systems-administration experience may already understand permissions, patching, services, backups, and logs. That foundation reduces the amount of new context needed for many Security Operations questions. A networking background helps with segmentation, firewalls, VPNs, DNS, ports, routing, and traffic-flow reasoning, but the candidate may need more time on identity, governance, and application security. People entering cybersecurity without broad IT experience often need to learn both the security concept and the underlying technology at the same time. That makes the exam feel harder even when the security objective itself is not unusually advanced.<\/p>\n<p>Use that fact constructively. If a topic is difficult because a prerequisite is missing, learn the prerequisite instead of repeating Security+ flash cards.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"performance-based-questions-reward-workflow-knowledge\">Performance-based questions reward workflow knowledge<\/h2>\n<p>Performance-based questions can combine several objectives into one task. You may need to place controls, interpret logs, match systems to protections, or sequence actions in a small scenario. These tasks are difficult when knowledge is isolated. Knowing what a firewall, certificate, backup, or SIEM is does not automatically tell you where it belongs in a workflow. Practice small diagrams, control placement, log interpretation, identity decisions, incident timelines, and recovery sequencing in an owned lab or safe training environment.<\/p>\n<p>Do not depend on memorized reproductions of supposed live PBQs. Transferable reasoning is more reliable because the actual task can present familiar concepts in a different layout.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-subheading\" style=\"font-size:20px!important;line-height:1.36!important;margin:26px 0 12px!important;font-weight:650!important\">Why memorization alone stops working<\/h3>\n<p>Acronyms and definitions are part of Security+, but they are inputs to reasoning rather than the final skill. Memorizing that RTO means recovery time objective is useful only if you can distinguish it from RPO in a recovery scenario. The same applies to authentication factors, control categories, risk treatments, encryption methods, and incident phases. The exam can place the concept inside a situation where several related terms appear together.<\/p>\n<p>Use retrieval practice that requires explanation. After answering a question, explain why the correct choice fits and why the closest alternative does not. When you can teach the distinction without seeing answer choices, the knowledge is more likely to survive unfamiliar exam wording.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-subheading\" style=\"font-size:20px!important;line-height:1.36!important;margin:26px 0 12px!important;font-weight:650!important\">Time pressure and wording increase perceived difficulty<\/h3>\n<p>Security+ allows a maximum of 90 questions in 90 minutes, including multiple-choice and performance-based items. You need enough pace that one difficult scenario does not consume time needed for easier questions. Read the requirement before becoming attached to a technical detail. Words such as best, first, most likely, prevent, detect, contain, recover, and mitigate often tell you what type of answer the question wants.<\/p>\n<p>Practice timed mixed sets only after you understand the content. Speeding through topics you do not understand measures confusion rather than exam readiness. During review, separate content mistakes from reading mistakes. The fixes are different: one needs study, while the other needs a more disciplined question-reading process.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-long-preparation-may-take\">How long preparation may take<\/h2>\n<p>There is no universal study duration because candidates start from different baselines. A working security administrator may need targeted review, while someone new to IT may need several months of foundation-building. The <a href=\"\/certification\/90-days-to-cyber-confidence-your-path-to-sy0-701-mastery\/\">90-day SY0-701 study plan<\/a> provides one structured schedule, but it should be adjusted using diagnostic results rather than followed mechanically. Measure study by completed objectives and demonstrated reasoning, not hours watched. Two focused hours resolving a weak topic can be more valuable than eight hours of passive video. If practice performance remains unstable, extend the plan rather than repeatedly booking the exam based on calendar pressure.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"use-practice-questions-diagnostically-not-as-a-memory-contest\">Use practice questions diagnostically, not as a memory contest<\/h2>\n<p>Practice questions are most valuable when they expose why your reasoning failed. Record the objective, your chosen answer, the correct answer, and the specific distinction you missed. Use more than one legitimate source so you learn the objective rather than one author&#8217;s wording. Scores that collapse when the wording changes can indicate question-bank memorization. Return to weak objectives with targeted reading or labs, then test again with new scenarios. Repeating the same question immediately can inflate confidence without proving understanding. Track performance by domain. A strong total score can hide a serious gap in a high-weight domain that deserves more preparation.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"signs-that-you-are-approaching-exam-readiness\">Signs that you are approaching exam readiness<\/h2>\n<p>You can explain the five domains without looking at notes and identify which objectives belong to each. You can also connect topics across domains instead of treating them as unrelated chapters. Your mixed practice performance is stable across different question sets, and you can explain why the best answer wins over a plausible distractor. You can work through small operational scenarios involving identity, segmentation, logging, vulnerability treatment, incident response, recovery, and governance without needing a memorized script. Your remaining weak-objective list is short and specific rather than a vague feeling that everything needs review.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"article-subheading\" style=\"font-size:20px!important;line-height:1.36!important;margin:26px 0 12px!important;font-weight:650!important\">Signs that more preparation will probably help<\/h3>\n<p>You rely on recognizing familiar wording rather than explaining concepts. Scores vary sharply when the question source changes, or you repeatedly miss the same objective after reviewing it. You know definitions but cannot choose controls under constraints, interpret basic security evidence, or describe what should happen next in an incident or recovery workflow. Large prerequisite gaps remain in networking, operating systems, identity, cloud, or basic administration. Those gaps can make multiple Security+ domains unstable at once.<\/p>\n<p>Delaying the exam to close those gaps is productive. The goal is durable competence and a passing result, not reaching a date on the calendar. Difficulty is only one part of the decision. Review the broader <a href=\"\/certification\/comptia-security-certification-the-role-of-comptia-security\/\">Security+ foundation<\/a> to see whether its mix of technical, operational, and governance skills matches the role you want.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"difficulty-checklist-for-sy0-701\">Difficulty checklist for SY0-701<\/h2>\n<p>Use this short checklist to turn perceived difficulty into evidence of readiness. It covers breadth, practical tasks and reasoning under constraints rather than relying on one practice-exam score.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Identify at least two weak objectives in each of the five SY0-701 domains and test improvement with a targeted task or new scenario.<\/li>\n<li>Explain why the best option meets a scenario\u2019s constraints and why the closest plausible alternative does not.<\/li>\n<li>Complete a short identity, incident-response or monitoring exercise without using a memorized answer or sample walkthrough.<\/li>\n<li>Use new, mixed practice sets to check whether domain performance stays stable; revisit any consistently weak area.<\/li>\n<li>Before choosing an exam date, compare your notes with the current issuer objectives and booking requirements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Security+ is difficult enough to require disciplined preparation, but it becomes much more predictable once you treat the blueprint as a set of decisions you can practice.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n<section class=\"article-related\"><div class=\"article-section-heading\"><p class=\"article-section-eyebrow\">Continue learning<\/p><h2>Related guides<\/h2><\/div><div class=\"article-related-grid\"><a href=\"\/certification\/mastering-comptia-security-sy0-701-your-complete-study-guide\/\"><strong>Security+ SY0-701 Exam Guide<\/strong><span>Review the current blueprint and exam structure.<\/span><\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/90-days-to-cyber-confidence-your-path-to-sy0-701-mastery\/\"><strong>90-Day SY0-701 Study Plan<\/strong><span>Turn weak objectives into a structured preparation schedule.<\/span><\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/how-to-read-a-siem-alert-in-context\/\"><strong>Reading SIEM Alerts in Context<\/strong><span>Practice the evidence-based reasoning behind operational questions.<\/span><\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/comptia-sy0-701-security-controls-by-real-world-purpose\/\"><strong>Security Controls by Purpose<\/strong><span>Get faster at choosing controls according to the requirement.<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<aside aria-label=\"Browse topics\" class=\"topic-nav-panel article-topic-nav pa-unified-topic-nav\"><h2 class=\"topic-nav-title\">Browse Topics<\/h2>\n<details class=\"topic-group\" open=\"\">\n\n<summary><span>Certifications<small>Vendor and credential guides<\/small><\/span><\/summary><div class=\"topic-group-body\"><a class=\"topic-view-all\" href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/\">View all Certifications \u2192<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/microsoft\/\">Microsoft<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/amazon\/\">Amazon<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/comptia\/\">CompTIA<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/cisco\/\">Cisco<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/project-management\/\">Project Management<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/google\/\">Google<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/isc2\/\">ISC2<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/fortinet\/\">Fortinet<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/isaca\/\">ISACA<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/databricks\/\">Databricks<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/servicenow\/\">ServiceNow<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/anthropic\/\">Anthropic<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/ec-council\/\">EC-Council<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/palo-alto-networks\/\">Palo Alto Networks<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/linux-foundation\/\">Linux Foundation<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/vmware\/\">VMware<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/itil\/\">ITIL<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/hpe-aruba\/\">HPE \/ Aruba<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/check-point\/\">Check Point<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/hashicorp\/\">HashiCorp<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/acams\/\">ACAMS<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/the-open-group\/\">The Open Group<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/iapp\/\">IAPP<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/nvidia\/\">NVIDIA<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/netapp\/\">NetApp<\/a><\/div>\n\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"topic-group\">\n\n<summary><span>Technology<small>AI, cloud, security and data<\/small><\/span><\/summary><div class=\"topic-group-body\"><a class=\"topic-view-all\" href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/\">View all Technology \u2192<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/cybersecurity\/\">Cybersecurity<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/data\/\">Data &amp; Analytics<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/ai-machine-learning\/\">AI &amp; Machine Learning<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/networking\/\">Networking<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/cloud\/\">Cloud &amp; Architecture<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/it-operations-service-management\/\">IT Operations &amp; Service Management<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/programming\/\">Programming &amp; Development<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/systems-infrastructure\/\">Systems &amp; Infrastructure<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/devops\/\">DevOps &amp; Automation<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/enterprise-architecture\/\">Enterprise Architecture<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/software\/\">Software<\/a><\/div>\n\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"topic-group\">\n\n<summary><span>College Test Prep<small>College exams and study plans<\/small><\/span><\/summary><div class=\"topic-group-body\"><a class=\"topic-view-all\" href=\"\/certification\/category\/college-test-prep\/\">View all Test Prep \u2192<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/college-test-prep\/gmat\/\">GMAT<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/college-test-prep\/mcat\/\">MCAT<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/college-test-prep\/sat\/\">SAT<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/college-test-prep\/act\/\">ACT<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/college-test-prep\/asvab\/\">ASVAB<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/college-test-prep\/psat\/\">PSAT<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/college-test-prep\/teas\/\">TEAS<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/college-test-prep\/lsat\/\">LSAT<\/a><\/div>\n\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"topic-group\">\n\n<summary><span>Career<small>Roles, skills and job search<\/small><\/span><\/summary><div class=\"topic-group-body\"><a class=\"topic-view-all\" href=\"\/certification\/category\/career\/\">View all Career \u2192<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/career\/career-guides\/\">Career Guides<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/career\/salaries-roles\/\">Salaries &amp; Roles<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/career\/job-search\/\">Job Search<\/a><\/div>\n\n<\/details>\n<details class=\"topic-group\">\n\n<summary><span>Governance &amp; Compliance<small>Risk, privacy and audit<\/small><\/span><\/summary><div class=\"topic-group-body\"><a class=\"topic-view-all\" href=\"\/certification\/category\/governance-compliance\/\">View all Governance &amp; Compliance \u2192<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/governance-compliance\/security-governance-audit\/\">Security Governance &amp; Audit<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/governance-compliance\/ai-governance-privacy\/\">AI Governance &amp; Privacy<\/a><a href=\"\/certification\/category\/governance-compliance\/anti-money-laundering\/\">Anti-Money Laundering<\/a><\/div>\n\n<\/details>\n<style class=\"pa-unified-nav-current\">\n.pa-unified-topic-nav .topic-group-body a[href=\"\/certification\/category\/certifications\/comptia\/\"],\n.pa-unified-topic-nav .topic-group-body a[href=\"\/certification\/category\/technology\/cybersecurity\/\"]{border-left-color:#21b68a;background:#e9f7f1;color:#14845f;font-weight:700;}\n<\/style><\/aside><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Understand how difficult CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 is, which domains challenge different candidates, what experience changes the difficulty, how PBQs affect preparation, and how to judge exam readiness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2176,2177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comptia","category-cybersecurity"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.2.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Understand how difficult CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 is, which domains challenge different candidates, what experience changes the difficulty, how PBQs affect preparation, and how to judge exam readiness.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\"\/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO (AIOSEO) 5.0.2.1\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PrepAway - Fastest Way to Pass IT Certification Exams - PrepAway\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701? - PrepAway\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Understand how difficult CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 is, which domains challenge different candidates, what experience changes the difficulty, how PBQs affect preparation, and how to judge exam readiness.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/logo.png\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:image:secure_url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/logo.png\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-08T11:54:33+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-20T18:28:43+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701? - PrepAway\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Understand how difficult CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 is, which domains challenge different candidates, what experience changes the difficulty, how PBQs affect preparation, and how to judge exam readiness.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/logo.png\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BlogPosting\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#blogposting\",\"name\":\"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701? - PrepAway\",\"headline\":\"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701?\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/logo.png\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/#articleImage\",\"width\":186,\"height\":38},\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-08T11:54:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-20T18:28:43+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"CompTIA, Cybersecurity\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/category\\\/certifications\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Certifications\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/category\\\/certifications\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Certifications\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/category\\\/certifications\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/category\\\/certifications\\\/comptia\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"CompTIA\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/category\\\/certifications\\\/comptia\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"CompTIA\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/category\\\/certifications\\\/comptia\\\/\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701?\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/category\\\/certifications\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"Certifications\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#listItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701?\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/category\\\/certifications\\\/comptia\\\/#listItem\",\"name\":\"CompTIA\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PrepAway Certification\",\"description\":\"Fastest Way to Pass IT Certification Exams - PrepAway\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/logo.png\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#organizationLogo\",\"width\":186,\"height\":38},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#organizationLogo\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/69b3eaeff2d2bf70759f8c56ad9a52614771e4f88b2806c16f0a25cc297f9267?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"admin\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\\\/\",\"name\":\"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701? - PrepAway\",\"description\":\"Understand how difficult CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 is, which domains challenge different candidates, what experience changes the difficulty, how PBQs affect preparation, and how to judge exam readiness.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\\\/#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/#author\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-08T11:54:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-20T18:28:43+00:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/\",\"name\":\"PrepAway Certification\",\"description\":\"Fastest Way to Pass IT Certification Exams - PrepAway\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.prepaway.com\\\/certification\\\/#organization\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO -->\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701? - PrepAway","description":"Understand how difficult CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 is, which domains challenge different candidates, what experience changes the difficulty, how PBQs affect preparation, and how to judge exam readiness.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/","robots":"max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/#blogposting","name":"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701? - PrepAway","headline":"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701?","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/author\/admin\/#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/#organization"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/logo.png","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/#articleImage","width":186,"height":38},"datePublished":"2025-05-08T11:54:33+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-20T18:28:43+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/#webpage"},"articleSection":"CompTIA, Cybersecurity"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/category\/certifications\/#listItem","name":"Certifications"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/category\/certifications\/#listItem","position":2,"name":"Certifications","item":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/category\/certifications\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/category\/certifications\/comptia\/#listItem","name":"CompTIA"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/category\/certifications\/comptia\/#listItem","position":3,"name":"CompTIA","item":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/category\/certifications\/comptia\/","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/#listItem","name":"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701?"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/category\/certifications\/#listItem","name":"Certifications"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/#listItem","position":4,"name":"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701?","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/category\/certifications\/comptia\/#listItem","name":"CompTIA"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/#organization","name":"PrepAway Certification","description":"Fastest Way to Pass IT Certification Exams - PrepAway","url":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/logo.png","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/#organizationLogo","width":186,"height":38},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/#organizationLogo"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/author\/admin\/#author","url":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/author\/admin\/","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/69b3eaeff2d2bf70759f8c56ad9a52614771e4f88b2806c16f0a25cc297f9267?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"admin"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/","name":"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701? - PrepAway","description":"Understand how difficult CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 is, which domains challenge different candidates, what experience changes the difficulty, how PBQs affect preparation, and how to judge exam readiness.","inLanguage":"en-US","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/author\/admin\/#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/author\/admin\/#author"},"datePublished":"2025-05-08T11:54:33+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-20T18:28:43+00:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/","name":"PrepAway Certification","description":"Fastest Way to Pass IT Certification Exams - PrepAway","inLanguage":"en-US","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/#organization"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"PrepAway - Fastest Way to Pass IT Certification Exams - PrepAway","og:type":"article","og:title":"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701? - PrepAway","og:description":"Understand how difficult CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 is, which domains challenge different candidates, what experience changes the difficulty, how PBQs affect preparation, and how to judge exam readiness.","og:url":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/","og:image":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/logo.png","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/logo.png","article:published_time":"2025-05-08T11:54:33+00:00","article:modified_time":"2026-10-20T18:28:43+00:00","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:title":"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701? - PrepAway","twitter:description":"Understand how difficult CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 is, which domains challenge different candidates, what experience changes the difficulty, how PBQs affect preparation, and how to judge exam readiness.","twitter:image":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/logo.png"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"3778","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":[],"keyphrases":{"focus":{"keyphrase":"","score":0,"analysis":{"keyphraseInTitle":{"score":0,"maxScore":9,"error":1}}},"additional":[]},"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":"","og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":[],"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"BlogPosting","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":"-1","robots_max_videopreview":"-1","robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":"default","local_seo":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"created":"2025-05-08 11:54:34","updated":"2026-10-20 18:58:36","focus_keyword":null,"additional_keywords":null,"truseo_locale":null,"primary_term":null,"ai":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/category\/certifications\/\" title=\"Certifications\">Certifications<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/category\/certifications\/comptia\/\" title=\"CompTIA\">CompTIA<\/a>\n\t\t<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">\u00bb<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t\t\tHow Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701?\n\t\t<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/"},{"label":"Certifications","link":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/category\/certifications\/"},{"label":"CompTIA","link":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/category\/certifications\/comptia\/"},{"label":"How Difficult Is CompTIA Security+ SY0-701?","link":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/is-the-comptia-security-exam-difficult-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3778"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15552,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3778\/revisions\/15552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}