CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 - 2026 (Labs Pending)

Download and install Putty on Windows, then enable SSH on an Ubuntu virtual machine and connect from the host using Putty to create a file.

Learn how to download and install FileZilla on Windows 64-bit, selecting the free basic version, running the installer, navigating the UAC prompt, and declining Norton offers for this demonstration.

Install Wireshark on Windows using the 64-bit installer, accept defaults, and create a desktop icon for quick access, a tool for network troubleshooting.

Install Wireshark on Ubuntu via the command line by updating apt, installing Wireshark, and enabling non-super user capture. Run Wireshark with sudo to sniff traffic on an interface.

Explore using ChatGPT and free AI tools to study for the CompTIA Security+ exam, generating questions and explanations while emphasizing verification to avoid AI hallucination.

Unbox a $30 Soho router and explore its four antennas, activity lights, and WAN/LAN ports while reviewing the power barrel connector and included ethernet cable for practical Wi-Fi lab setups.

Connect your PC to the Soho router to configure wireless signals and maintain internet access via the ISP router, using an ethernet cable for lan and wan connections.

Configure a soho router via the browser, using the default gateway 192168.10.1, login with admin admin, set country and time zone, create a new password, and verify the changes.

Perform a factory reset on the Soho router by holding the back factory reset button for five seconds until the lights blink, then release and wait for the Wi-Fi light.

Sign up for Cisco Networking Academy, download and install Cisco Packet Tracer, and log in to start practicing networking with this cross-platform emulation tool.

Compare GUI and CLI for configuring devices; GUI offers graphs and visuals, while CLI enables speed and automation; the course uses GUI for wireless configs and CLI for Packet Tracer.

Explore why Cisco iOS matters for networking and how it powers most switches and routers. Note its overlap with Apple iOS, licensing, and Packet Tracer labs.

Use the enable command to switch from user exec mode to privileged exec mode on Cisco IOS. Recognize prompts and modes, and follow a brief demo with Packet Tracer.

Learn how the exit command moves you from a sub mode back to global configuration mode, while the end command exits global configuration to privileged exec mode in Cisco iOS.

Enter global configuration mode on Cisco devices by upgrading from user to privileged exec mode, then use config t or configure terminal to begin configurations.

Explore Cisco IOS configuration modes, from user exec and privileged exec to global, interface, and router configuration modes, with practical CLI commands like enable, config t, and interface.

Learn how the up arrow in Cisco iOS cycles through previously typed commands to reuse them, with a practical lab demo navigating interfaces and efficient router configuration.

Explore how the question mark in Cisco's iOS reveals configuration options. See how it completes half-typed commands and demonstrates its use in Packet Tracer on a 2911 router.

Discover how shorthand commands in Cisco iOS speed configuration, using examples like config t and int G01, and learn the rule that prevents ambiguity in command completion.

Use the tab key to autocomplete Cisco iOS commands, offering an alternative to shorthand inputs. Learn to enter global config mode with config t and mix methods across labs.

Demonstrate using cables in Cisco's Packet Tracer by connecting a router to a switch with straight-through cables and the automatic connection option. Learn to move, delete, and reselect interfaces.

Demonstrate how to use Ctrl+Shift+6 in Cisco Packet Tracer's CLI to cancel the search for non-existent PCs, speeding up lab setup for routers and switches.

Configure PCs in Packet Tracer using a GUI-driven PC interface; set global settings and FastEthernet0 interface, assign IPv4 addresses, and use Command Prompt or web browser for demonstrations.

Configure and explore Cisco Packet Tracer servers, set static IP, gateway, and DNS, and use desktop tools to compare server services with PCs and study their weaknesses.

Learn to use the fast forward feature in Cisco Packet Tracer to accelerate convergence between switches, turning loading indicators from orange to green and speeding up network configuration practice.

Learn how to use Cisco Packet Tracer's notes feature to document router configurations, including creating, editing, dragging, and saving notes with interface IP addresses without altering devices.

Demonstrate sniffers in Cisco packet tracer reading traffic between two 2960 switches and end devices, noting they capture traffic in one direction on port zero or port one.

Learn how to save and reopen network configurations in Cisco Packet Tracer using file save as, naming your file, and relaunching it by double-clicking the saved file.

Explore essential computing hardware components and form factors, including cpu, sockets, cooling, motherboard, ram (ddr4/ddr5), storage (hdd, ssd, nvme), psu, gpu, nic, and internal vs external peripherals.

Explore how computing devices—from servers to smartphones—share the same hardware such as CPUs, motherboards, RAM, and storage, with differences driven by size and power.

Explore common cable types across USB, video, hard drive, and Apple cables, including form factors, generations, and cross-compatibility, while noting that Security+ emphasizes fundamentals rather than memorized speeds.

Explore virtualization and cloud basics, including how hypervisors create virtual machines. Compare type one bare metal and type two software hypervisors, and note cloud benefits and resource efficiency.

explore an a+ crash course on operating systems, including Windows, Linux, Mac OS, and mobile platforms, and learn how drivers enable hardware interaction with the OS.

Cover FAT32 and NTFS file systems, with encryption, permissions, and compression. Explore Windows editions—Home, Pro, and Enterprise—and review services, control panel, and settings for firewall, networking, printers, email, and sound.

Explore the Windows command line basics with an A+ crash course, compare GUI and CLI, and learn essential commands like cd, dir, ipconfig, ping, and more for automation and efficiency.

Explore the Linux command line, from essential commands (ls, pwd, mv, cp, rm, chmod, chown, grep, find, mount) to systemd, kernel, boot sequence, and a quick lab.

Understand that an interface has multiple meanings in networking, including physical ports, software modes like link aggregation, switch virtual interfaces for VLANs, and how we interact with devices and users.

Explore the OSI model as a seven-layer framework for networks, from physical cables to application layer, and learn how IP addresses, MACs, ports, and TCP/UDP drive data delivery.

Explore common networking devices, including modems, network interface cards (wired and wireless), layer 2 and layer 3 switches, access points, routers, firewalls, and nas/san storage, with real-world Cisco examples.

Explore common ports and protocols and how they map to layer four, covering ftp, sftp, ssh, dns, dhcp, http, https, smtp, imap, pop3, ntp, snmp, ldap, smb, and syslog.

Learn ethernet cables with RJ-45 and cat ratings, coax cables with analog signals via modems, and fiber options—multimode and single-mode—with LC/SC/MPO connectors and SFP, SFP+, QSFP, and QSFP28.

Explore virtual local area networks (VLANs), their layer 2 operation on switches, and how VLANs reduce hardware costs while improving security and network organization through configurable ports and subnets.

Learn a theory-based subnetting overview for the Security+ exam, covering osi layer 3, ip addresses, subnet masks, cidr notation, and determining local versus remote devices via the default gateway.

Examine how wireless networks operate: access points linked to switches, PSK or Radius authentication, and WPA, WPA2, or WPA3 encryption, routing traffic from devices to the internet.

Learn how dhcp auto assigns ip information to devices on a lan, using the Dora process: discover, offer, request, and accept, to lease and confirm an ip address.

Explore the domain name service and the core role of DNS in translating names to IP addresses, with a practical focus for the Security+ exam.

Explore remote connection methods: ssh encrypted cli on port 22, gui remote sessions (TeamViewer, screen sharing), api automation, and physical console access via rollover cable.

Explore security controls, detailing the four control categories and six control types that form a matrix of combinations. Use exam tips to avoid overthinking and choose the most likely answer.

Explore how technical controls strengthen security on digital devices, alongside physical controls, including firewalls, antiviruses, encryption of hard drives, and website certificates.

Explore managerial controls as oversight of management executed by people through meetings and documents, including risk assessments by board and c-suite leaders, onboarding procedures, performance improvement plans, and non-disclosure agreements.

Explore operational controls as concrete, people-driven processes that manage security day to day, from incident response to monitoring, and distinguish them from management controls used for planning.

Explore physical controls as tangible security measures, including fences, lights, door locks, bollards, and mantraps, that don't involve computer data.

Explain preventive controls that stop problems before they occur, with examples like firewalls, antiviruses, locked doors, and NDAs.

Identify deterrent controls that dissuade action and overlap with preventive and detective measures, using examples like warning signs, door lights, and performance improvement plans to deter mistakes.

Explore detective controls that detect activity across systems. Learn examples like logs, security cameras, and motion sensors, covering technical and physical detective controls.

Explore corrective controls that fix problems after they occur, distinguish them from preventive controls, and see examples like antivirus and emergency response actions.

Explore compensating controls as assistant controls that bolster existing protections. See how multifactor authentication and network segmentation enhance usernames and passwords and firewall defenses.

Explore how DirecTV controls establish employee rules through standard operating procedures, company policies, and acceptable use policies, guiding effective job performance.

Explore a diagram of security categories and types in a four-by-six matrix, illustrating how preventive controls span technical and managerial domains, with examples like firewalls and NDAs.

Define the CIA triad: confidentiality, integrity, and availability, as the cornerstone of cybersecurity, and explain how data secrecy, integrity, and availability balance against threats and risk.

Demonstrate non-repudiation by validating that logs cannot be altered, proving events like logins occurred; show how log integrity prevents denial of actions.

Clarify the true concept of identification, authentication, authorization, and accounting, debunking the triple a misnomer, and learn how logs and audits record who did what and when.

Compare authenticating people and systems using login credentials, authorization, and audit trails to protect access. Apply least privilege to both, preventing overreach, insider and outsider threats, and shadow it.

Define and apply authorization models that set who may access resources, such as accountants accessing accounting materials and users lacking local admin rights, with leadership guiding company-specific implementations.

Analyze how gap analysis highlights the difference between company standards and security controls. Explore various methods and tools for measuring the gap and aligning security controls with standards.

Learn how zero trust replaces the castle-and-moat model with an identity-centered security framework that verifies every access, uses automatic authentication, and applies conditional access with continuous monitoring.

Explore zero trust control plane, its origin in networking and NIST SP 800-207, and how adaptive identity and policy based access control shape interentity communication via policy engine and administrator.

Examine the zero trust data plane defined in SP 800-207 and its separation from the control plane, showing how compromised data paths should not affect control plane operations.

Discover how bollards function as a physical security preventive control that prevents cars from entering buildings, enhancing safety in real-world scenarios.

Explore access control vestibules, or mantraps, with two doors and keycards to prevent tailgating and piggybacking, while supporting physical, preventive, and detective access control.

Explore fencing as a physical security control that prevents unauthorized entry and acts as a preventive or deterrent—even if it can be climbed.

Explore video surveillance with cameras that record activity to monitor physical reality. Learn how these detective controls deter threats and provide reviewed evidence for facility security.

Explain how security guards function as physical controls that are preventive or deterrent, and clarify that they are not detective controls due to unreliable human memory in security contexts.

Describe access badges as physical controls that replace keys, enabling authentication, authorization, and accounting, and allow disabling lost keycards while logging access for preventive, detective insider threat detection.

Improve physical security by using lighting to deter intruders and aid detection; lighting acts as both a deterrent and a detective control for security guards and cameras.

Explore physical security sensors, including infrared sensors that detect heat signatures, pressure sensors for doors, microwave sensors that use waves, and ultrasonic sensors that detect vibrations.

Explore deception and disruption tools used to monitor and improve security, including honey files, honeypots, honey nets, and honey tokens that lure attackers to observe their access attempts.

Explore how tokens authenticate and authorize users, enable api access, and tailor permissions and expirations, while supporting monitoring, incident response, and threat hunting.

Explore change management as the structured process of standards and procedures used to implement changes across business and it, including networks and cloud infrastructure.

Explore the change management approval process, recognize that it varies by business and leadership, and learn the core steps to get a change request approved.

Identify ownership as the entity legally responsible for IT systems and the business, and note that owners such as the CEO or board drive change management decisions.

Identify stakeholders as anyone with a relationship to a business system or change request, from owners and board of directors to sysadmins, help desks, and accountants.

Analyze impact analysis in change management by researching potential outcomes before implementing a change, identifying positive and negative effects.

Discover what a backout plan is and how, like Humpty Dumpty, it puts a system back together after a failed change; use it for server upgrades, migrations, operating system updates.

Define maintenance windows as scheduled periods for regularly updating systems, applying patches, and performing backups. Align maintenance with business needs to minimize impact on operations and follow directive, operational controls.

Outline step-by-step actions for various situations; standard operating procedures define how to update a server or onboard new employees; these operational, directive security controls guide day-to-day tasks.

Implement and compare allow lists and deny lists as simple, universal controls for access, used across networks, websites, browsers, and applications to govern read-write and admin permissions.

Understand the concept of restricted activities as blocking certain functionalities across files, folders, applications, and operating systems, similar to allow/deny lists, including read, write, or execute access.

Identify downtime as the period of unusable access, and commit to minimizing downtime for servers, network access, files, and websites, aiming to reduce outages across technology.

Differentiate services from applications and learn when restarting each helps resolve issues and apply updates. Coordinate with end users and leadership, schedule maintenance windows, back up data, and plan rollback.

Understand why legacy applications persist in most companies and pose security risks as vendor support ends. Implement backups and licenses, and use network segmentation or virtualization to protect legacy environments.

Explore software dependencies, how borrowing functionality creates security risks, and the importance of timely patches and updates to mitigate those risks.

Apply change management to updating documents, since servers and cloud infrastructure are shared and authoritative. Use a baseline principle that documentation follows the same change management practices as other systems.

Explore source control concepts, including central repositories, conflicts, branching, and merging with git, and learn to use GitHub for pushing changes to remote repositories.