CompTIA Security+ Exam Preparation Course

Module 1: Security Controls and Foundational Concepts

• Lessons:
  • Categories and Types of Security Controls
  • The CIA Triad and Non-Repudiation
  • Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting
  • Zero Trust, Deception, and Disruption Technology
• Applied activity: Given a short scenario describing an organization's security posture, learners categorize five described controls by type and category and justify each classification.

Module 2: Change Management and Cryptographic Solutions

• Lessons:
  • Business Processes Tied to Change Management
  • Technical Change Management Implications
  • Symmetric and Asymmetric Encryption
  • Hashing, Digital Signatures, and Public Key Infrastructure
• Applied activity: Learners walk through a simplified PKI certificate request and validation scenario, identifying which cryptographic solution addresses confidentiality, integrity, or authenticity at each step. Note for the builder: align this module's content with the standalone Cryptography Essentials course so learners who take both do not see contradictory explanations.

Module 3: Threat Actors and Motivations

• Lessons:
  • Types of Threat Actors: Nation-State, Organized Crime, Hacktivist, Insider
  • Threat Actor Attributes: Resources, Sophistication, Funding
  • Motivations: Financial, Political, Ethical, Espionage
• Applied activity: Given four short incident summaries, learners identify the most likely threat actor type and motivation for each and explain their reasoning.

Module 4: Threat Vectors, Attack Surfaces, and Vulnerability Types

• Lessons:
  • Message-Based and Image-Based Threat Vectors
  • Network, Removable Media, and Supply Chain Vectors
  • Human Vectors and Social Engineering
  • Application, Operating System, and Hardware Vulnerabilities
  • Zero-Day and Misconfiguration Vulnerabilities
• Applied activity: Learners review five short scenarios, including an email, a phone call, a USB drive found in a parking lot, an unpatched server, and a vendor breach, and identify the vector and the social engineering principle involved where applicable.

Module 5: Indicators of Malicious Activity and Mitigation Techniques

• Lessons:
  • Malware Indicators: Ransomware, Trojans, Worms, Spyware
  • Physical and Network Attack Indicators
  • Application Attack Indicators: Injection, Cross-Site Scripting, Buffer Overflow
  • Segmentation, Access Control, and Hardening as Mitigations
  • Patching, Monitoring, and Least Privilege as Mitigations
• Applied activity: Learners triage a short simulated alert log based on described symptoms, select the matching malware or attack type, and propose one mitigation for each.

Module 6: Security Architecture Models

• Lessons:
  • Cloud, On-Premises, and Hybrid Models
  • Infrastructure as Code and Virtualization
  • IoT, Industrial Control Systems, and Embedded System Considerations
  • Considerations for Availability, Resilience, and Cost
• Applied activity: Learners map security responsibilities for a described hybrid deployment, dividing them between cloud provider and customer using a shared responsibility framing.

Module 7: Enterprise Infrastructure Security

• Lessons:
  • Network Appliances: Firewalls, Load Balancers, Proxies
  • VPNs and Secure Communication
  • Zero Trust Network Architecture
  • Port Security and Network Segmentation Techniques
• Applied activity: Learners annotate a simple network diagram description with the placement of a firewall, a VPN concentrator, and a segmentation boundary to meet a stated security requirement.

Module 8: Data Protection, Resilience, and Recovery

• Lessons:
  • Data Types, Classification, and Ownership
  • Data States and Protection Techniques: At Rest, In Transit, In Use
  • Resilience Concepts: Redundancy, High Availability
  • Recovery Concepts: Backups, Recovery Time and Recovery Point Objectives
  • Testing Recovery: Tabletop Exercises and Failover Tests
• Applied activity: Given a described outage scenario, learners calculate whether a stated backup schedule meets a target recovery point objective and propose one resilience improvement.

Module 9: Hardening Techniques and Asset Management

• Lessons:
  • Baselines and Secure Configuration
  • Hardening Targets: Endpoints, Servers, Mobile, Wireless
  • Asset Inventory and Classification
  • Asset Lifecycle: Acquisition, Disposal, and Sanitization
• Applied activity: Learners review a short asset list with mixed device types and propose one hardening action and one lifecycle consideration for each.

Module 10: Vulnerability Management

• Lessons:
  • Vulnerability Identification: Scanning and Feeds
  • Analysis: Scoring and Prioritization
  • Vulnerability Response and Remediation
  • Validation and Reporting
• Applied activity: Given four described vulnerabilities with different severity and exploitability, learners rank them for remediation priority and justify the order.

Module 11: Monitoring, Alerting, and Enterprise Security Capabilities

• Lessons:
  • Monitoring Concepts: Logs, Baselines, Anomalies
  • SIEM and Security Data Aggregation
  • Firewalls, Intrusion Detection, and Intrusion Prevention
  • Data Loss Prevention and Endpoint Detection and Response
• Applied activity: Learners review a short set of described log entries, identify which would trigger a SIEM alert and why, then select the enterprise capability best suited to prevent recurrence.

Module 12: Identity and Access Management, Automation, and Orchestration

• Lessons:
  • Identity Concepts: Provisioning, Federation, Single Sign-On
  • Access Control Models: Role-Based, Attribute-Based, Least Privilege
  • Multifactor Authentication and Privileged Access Management
  • Automation and Orchestration Use Cases and Benefits
  • Automation Risks and Considerations
• Applied activity: Learners design a basic access model of roles and permissions for a described small organization and identify one process suitable for automation.

Module 13: Incident Response and Investigation Data Sources

• Lessons:
  • Incident Response Process and Roles
  • Preparation, Detection, and Analysis Phases
  • Containment, Eradication, and Recovery Phases
  • Log and Data Sources for Investigation
  • Lessons Learned and Reporting
• Applied activity: Given a short simulated incident narrative, learners sequence the response phases taken and identify which log or data source would confirm each phase's findings.

Module 14: Security Governance and Risk Management

• Lessons:
  • Governance Structures: Policies, Standards, Procedures, Guidelines
  • Roles and Responsibilities in Security Governance
  • Risk Identification and Assessment
  • Risk Treatment: Accept, Avoid, Transfer, Mitigate
  • Risk Registers and Reporting
• Applied activity: Learners assess a described organizational risk, assign a qualitative rating, and select a risk treatment option with justification.

Module 15: Third-Party Risk and Compliance

• Lessons:
  • Vendor Assessment and Due Diligence
  • Contractual and Supply Chain Risk Considerations
  • Compliance Concepts: Regulations, Standards, Frameworks
  • Consequences of Non-Compliance
  • Privacy Considerations in Compliance
• Applied activity: Learners review a short vendor profile and identify two due diligence questions they would ask before onboarding the vendor, tied to a named framework or regulation category.

Module 16: Audits, Assessments, and Security Awareness

• Lessons:
  • Attestation and Internal versus External Audits
  • Vulnerability Assessments and Penetration Testing Basics
  • Security Awareness Program Design
  • Phishing Simulations and Reporting Culture
• Applied activity: Learners outline a basic annual security awareness plan for a described small organization, including one phishing simulation and one reporting mechanism.