The SY0-601 CompTIA Security+ exam suits people moving into security or systems administration roles. This page gives you free practice sets for each official content area, worked explanations for sample questions, a study plan and a short FAQ. Check exam rules and fees with CompTIA, because they can change between exam versions.
Numbers in brackets link to the official sources listed under Sources & last verified. Dates that have passed are removed automatically.
| Item | Detail | Source · Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Number of questions (SY0-701 (V7)) | Maximum of 90 questions[1] | CompTIA · Oct 29, 2026 |
| Number of questions (SY0-801 (V8)) | Maximum of 90 questions[2] | CompTIA · Oct 29, 2026 |
| Time limit (SY0-701 (V7)) | 90 minutes[1] | CompTIA · Oct 29, 2026 |
| Time limit (SY0-801 (V8)) | 90 minutes[2] | CompTIA · Oct 29, 2026 |
| Passing score (SY0-701 (V7)) | 750 (scale of 100-900)[1] | CompTIA · Oct 29, 2026 |
| Passing score (SY0-801 (V8)) | 750 (scale of 100-900)[2] | CompTIA · Oct 29, 2026 |
| Eligibility | No mandatory prerequisites[1] | CompTIA · Oct 29, 2026 |
According to CompTIA, “maximum of 90, a mix of multiple-choice and performance-based questions”[1]
CompTIA Security+ is a certification covering core security knowledge: threats and attacks, secure architecture, implementation, incident response, and governance and risk. It is aimed at people who work with, or want to move into, security and systems administration.
This page covers SY0-601, but the delivery figures below come from CompTIA's pages for the newer exam versions, SY0-701 and SY0-801. Those pages list a maximum of 90 questions, a mix of multiple-choice and performance-based questions, and a time limit of 90 minutes. The passing score is 750 on a scale of 100 to 900. Performance-based questions ask you to complete a task rather than pick an answer, so practise them as well as the multiple-choice items.
There are no mandatory prerequisites. CompTIA does recommend Network+ and some hands-on experience in a security or systems administrator role, so treat that as a guide to the level of background the exam assumes.
We have not verified SY0-601 specifics such as its question count, time limit, retake policy, fees or retirement date. Confirm them on the official CompTIA Security+ pages before you book.
The content areas below are copied from the official SY0-601 content outline published by CompTIA, with the share of the exam each area carries. The right-hand column shows which of our practice sets covers it.
| Official content area | Weight | Practice on this site |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture and Design[3] | 21% | SY0-601 Architecture & Design Practise choosing resilient and secure designs, including how a system behaves when a component fails and where security checks belong in a build pipeline. |
| Attacks, Threats and Vulnerabilities[3] | 24% | SY0-601 Threats, Attacks & Vulnerabilities Learn to recognise attack types and threat actors from a short scenario, then match each one to the control that best reduces the risk. |
| Governance, Risk and Compliance[3] | 14% | SY0-601 Governance, Risk & Compliance Work on risk handling, policies, assessments and compliance terms, and on telling apart who owns a decision from who carries it out. |
| Implementation[3] | 25% | SY0-601 Implementation Practise configuring and choosing secure protocols, identity and access settings, and network and endpoint controls for a given requirement. |
| Operations and Incident Response[3] | 16% | SY0-601 Operations & Incident Response Rehearse the order of incident response steps, which evidence to keep, and which tool or log answers a given investigation question. |
Prepare for the SY0-601 - CompTIA Security+ IT Certification exam with our free practice test modules. Each quiz covers key topics to help you pass on your first try.
These are practice questions written for this site, not questions from the real exam. Each explanation shows why the right answer is right and why the others are wrong.
Question: Which architecture pattern improves resilience by designing systems to continue operating in a degraded but functional state when a component fails, rather than failing completely?
Answer: B. Graceful degradation
Explanation:
Graceful degradation is correct. It describes a system that loses a component but keeps its core function running at reduced capability, instead of failing completely.
High availability clustering is wrong because it aims to keep full service by switching to a standby node, not to run in a reduced state. Active-active failover is wrong for a similar reason: several nodes share the load and one covers for another, so service stays whole. Load balancing is wrong because it only spreads requests across servers and does not decide what happens when a part fails.
Rule to remember: when a question says the system keeps working in a reduced but usable way, think graceful degradation. When it says full service continues through redundancy, think clustering or failover.
Question: A company uses Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to provision cloud resources. Which security practice should be integrated into the IaC pipeline to catch misconfigurations before deployment?
Answer: B. Static analysis / policy-as-code scanning of IaC templates
Explanation:
Static analysis or policy-as-code scanning of IaC templates is correct. It reads the templates before anything is deployed, so a mistake such as an open storage bucket or an overly broad permission is caught early and cheaply.
Manual peer review of every template is wrong because it does not scale and misses mistakes that tools find easily. Penetration testing of deployed infrastructure is wrong because it happens after deployment, so the flaw is already live. Runtime CSPM monitoring is also after deployment: it detects drift and misconfiguration but does not stop a bad template from shipping.
Rule to remember: when the question says before deployment and in the pipeline, choose an automated check on the code or template. Checks on running systems come later.
Question: How frequently should ongoing assessments be conducted in CompTIA Security+ IT Certification practice?
Answer: B. At regular intervals and as conditions change
Explanation:
At regular intervals and as conditions change is correct. Security assessments only stay useful if they are repeated on a schedule and also triggered when something in the environment changes, such as new systems, new threats or new business needs.
Only when problems are reported is wrong because it is purely reactive, so weaknesses sit unnoticed until something breaks. Once annually regardless of circumstances is wrong because a fixed schedule ignores real change. Only when required by external auditors is wrong because it ties security to outside pressure rather than to your own risk.
Rule to remember: when a question asks how often to assess, the best answer combines a regular schedule with event-driven reviews. Answers that say only, once or never-unless-forced are usually wrong.
Start with the official CompTIA exam objectives for the version you are sitting, and keep them open as a checklist. Take our practice set for each content area in turn, and read every explanation, including the ones for questions you got right. Write down the topics you missed and the rule behind each answer.
Next, go back to the objectives and read the official material on your weakest areas. Then retake the matching practice set a few days later to see whether the rule has stuck rather than the answer. Spread your sessions out instead of cramming one area at a time.
Use the Threats, Attacks and Vulnerabilities set and the Implementation set often, since they cover the largest share of the outline. Do not skip Governance, Risk and Compliance just because it feels dry.
Because the exam includes performance-based questions, practise tasks in a lab or virtual machine as well as reading. Before test day, run mixed sets under a time limit, and confirm the current format and rules on CompTIA's site.
CompTIA lists a passing score of 750 on a scale of 100 to 900 for the newer SY0-701 and SY0-801 versions. We have not verified the figure for SY0-601, so check the official CompTIA Security+ page for the version you are booking before you rely on it.
For SY0-701 and SY0-801, CompTIA lists a maximum of 90 questions, a mix of multiple-choice and performance-based questions, in 90 minutes. Confirm the figures for SY0-601 with CompTIA, as we have not verified them for that version.
No, CompTIA lists no mandatory prerequisites. It does recommend Network+ and hands-on experience in a security or systems administrator role. Treat that as guidance on the background the exam assumes, not as a requirement to register.
They are tasks where you act on a scenario instead of choosing from listed options, and CompTIA says the exam mixes them with multiple-choice questions. Our sets are multiple-choice, so also practise hands-on in a lab to prepare for the task format.
No. The questions here were written by us with AI tools and are not real exam questions. Use them to find weak areas and learn the reasoning, and rely on CompTIA's official objectives for what the exam actually covers.
How we verify: editorial & fact-checking policy. Report an error: contact us.