INTRODUCTION

Welcome to CompTIA Security+ Certification Practice Exams, Fourth Edition! This book serves as a preparation tool for the CompTIA Security+ certification exam (SY0-601) as well as for your work in the IT security field. After you’ve gone through the CompTIA Security+ Certification Study Guide, Fourth Edition thoroughly, you can test your knowledge using this practice exams book.

The CompTIA Security+ Exam (Exam SY0-601)

The CompTIA Security+ certification exam is a vendor-neutral exam that validates your skills in risk identification and management, the application of physical and digital security controls for devices and networks, disaster recovery, the adherence to rules set forth by legal and regulatory bodies, as well as cloud computing. This certification is aimed at individuals who have a minimum of two years of experience in IT administration, focusing on security.

The CompTIA Security+ exam consists of five domains (categories). CompTIA represents the relative importance of each domain within the body of knowledge required for an entry-level IT professional taking this exam.

Your CompTIA Security+ certification is valid for three years from the date you are certified, after which time you must take the most current version of the exam to keep your certification. Detailed information regarding the CompTIA Security+ certification and exam is available at www.comptia.org.

In This Book

The objective of this book is to prepare you for the CompTIA Security+ exam by familiarizing you with the technology and body of knowledge tested on the exam. Because the primary focus of this book is to help you pass the test, we don’t always cover every aspect of the related technology. Some aspects of the technology are covered only to the extent necessary to help you understand what you need to know to pass the exam, but we hope this book will serve you as a valuable professional resource after your exam as well.

CompTIA Security+ Certification Practice Exams, Fourth Edition (Exam SY0-601), provides a battery of practice test questions organized by the official exam objectives. The 21 chapters contain more than 600 questions that cover all the objectives for the SY0-601 exam. Additionally, the accompanying media contains 300 questions in a customizable test engine that enables you to take three full practice exams in a simulated testing environment or customized exams by chapter or exam domain.

This book was developed and written in conjunction with the CompTIA Security+ Certification Study Guide, Fourth Edition (Exam SY0-601), by Glen E. Clarke. The order in which the objectives are presented is identical, as are the chapter titles. These books were designed to work together as a comprehensive program for self-study.

Pre-assessment Exam

This book features a pre-assessment exam in Appendix A. The pre-assessment exam will gauge your areas of strength and weakness so you can tailor your studies based on your needs. We recommend that you take the pre-assessment test before starting the questions in Chapter 1.

In Every Chapter

This book is organized in such a way as to serve as an in-depth review for the CompTIA Security+ exam for both experienced IT security professionals and newcomers to security technologies. Each chapter covers a major aspect of the exam, with practice questions to test your knowledge of specific exam objectives. The SY0-601 exam will present you with some performance-based questions that will test your ability to carry out a task to solve a problem. This could be in the form of typing in a command, placing network devices in the correct positions on a network map, or matching terms with definitions.

Each chapter contains components that call your attention to important items and reinforce salient points. Take a look at what you’ll find in every chapter:

   Every chapter begins with certification objectives, a list of the official CompTIA exam objectives covered in that chapter.

   Practice questions, similar to those found on the actual exam, are included in every chapter. By answering these questions, you’ll test your knowledge while becoming familiar with the structure of the exam questions.

   The Quick Answer Key section follows the questions and enables you easily to check your answers.

   In-Depth Answers at the end of every chapter include explanations for the correct and incorrect answer choices and provide an opportunity for reviewing the exam topics.

Practice Exams

In addition to the more than 600 questions included in this book, 300 questions are included in the customizable test engine on the accompanying media. You can create practice exams by objective or by chapter, or you can take full-length practice exams. Like the questions in the chapters, these practice exams also include detailed explanations for the correct and incorrect answer choices. For more information about the accompanying media, please see Appendix B.

Strategies for Use

You can use this book a variety of ways, whether simultaneously with the CompTIA Security+ Certification Study Guide, Fourth Edition, or as a stand-alone test prep tool.

   With the Study Guide Taking a chapter-by-chapter approach, you can opt to read a Study Guide chapter and then practice what you have learned with the questions in the corresponding Practice Exams chapter, alternating between books throughout your course of study.

   The Practice Exams book alone Using the Practice Exams book after you have read the Study Guide, or as a stand-alone test prep tool, you can work through the book cover to cover and take the three practice exams as the final step in your preparation.

Alternatively, by means of the “Exam Readiness Checklist” in the next section, you can gauge your level of expertise and determine which objectives to focus on and then work through the book by objectives. The checklist notes which questions pertain to which objectives, enabling you to tailor your review.