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The Five Security+ (SY0-701) Domains

The core knowledge areas of the CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) exam. Each page below is written to the official SY0-701 exam objectives and covers the domain's concepts, a Mermaid diagram, and the key terms a sysadmin moving into security needs — with a defensive (blue-team) framing. The percentages are CompTIA's published weightings (the share of scored content per domain) (verify on CompTIA — weightings change per exam version).

The objectives PDF is the canonical checklist for exact wording and every listed term — see how to get it. These pages follow it but do not replace it.

Learning objectives

  • Identify the five SY0-701 domains, their weightings, and their themes.
  • Use the weightings to prioritise study time (Security Operations is the largest).
  • Navigate to the per-domain page written to the official objectives.

Domain index

# Domain Weight Theme (one line)
1 General Security Concepts 12% CIA triad, security controls, Zero Trust, change management, cryptography & PKI basics
2 Threats, Vulnerabilities & Mitigations 22% Threat actors, attack types, vulnerabilities, indicators, and mitigation techniques
3 Security Architecture 18% Secure design across cloud, on-prem, network, and data — resilience and protection
4 Security Operations 28% Day-to-day defence: hardening, monitoring, logging, identity, incident response
5 Security Program Management & Oversight 20% Governance, risk management, third-party risk, compliance, audits, and awareness 
flowchart LR
    Idx(["SY0-701 domains<br/>(by weight)"])
    Idx --> D4["4 · Security Operations<br/>28% — largest"]
    Idx --> D2["2 · Threats, Vulns &<br/>Mitigations — 22%"]
    Idx --> D5["5 · Program Mgmt &<br/>Oversight — 20%"]
    Idx --> D3["3 · Security<br/>Architecture — 18%"]
    Idx --> D1["1 · General Security<br/>Concepts — 12%"]

How to use these pages

  • Prioritise by weight. Domain 4 (Security Operations, 28%) is the largest and maps most directly onto a sysadmin's existing skills — start there for quick wins. Domains 2 and 5 together are ~42% of the exam, so do not neglect threats or governance for the more technical Domain 3.
  • Pair with the objectives PDF. Track each sub-objective against the official list; these pages are written to those objectives but the PDF is the authoritative checklist — see exam-and-objectives.md.
  • Cross-reference the offensive view. Where this hub covers attacks defensively, the CEH modules cover the same techniques from the attacker's side; the protocols reference and repo glossary reinforce shared fundamentals.

Where to go next

Sources

  • CompTIA — Security+ (SY0-701) official certification page and exam objectives (five domains and published weightings 12 / 22 / 18 / 28 / 20 percent): https://www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/security/
  • Related in this repo: ../../ceh/domains/README.md · ../../protocols/README.md · ../../reference/README.md
  • Domain weightings are version-sensitive — verify on CompTIA before relying on them.