CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) (CS0‑004) Practice Exams

About the CompTIA CySA+ CS0-004 exam

Exam at a glance

CS0-004 is version 4 (V4) of CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+), the intermediate, vendor-neutral certification that validates your ability to detect, analyze, and respond to threats in security operations and vulnerability management roles. V4 launched on June 23, 2026. Expect a maximum of 85 questions, multiple-choice and performance-based, in 165 minutes, with a passing score of 750 on a scale of 100 to 900.

Domain weighting

• Security Operations: 34%
• Vulnerability Management: 26%
• Incident Response and Management: 24%
• Reporting and Communication: 16%

What is new in V4

The four domains keep their V3 names, but the weights shift toward security operations and incident response, and a new objective covers AI in security operations: AI risks such as hallucinations, data exposure, model poisoning, and malicious prompts, AI usage policies and compliance, and SOC use cases from log analysis to event correlation. CompTIA also expands coverage of Zero Trust Network Architecture (ZTNA), secure access service edge (SASE), EPSS-based vulnerability prioritization, and software supply chain risk with SBOM and software composition analysis. CS0-004 replaces CS0-003, which retires in English on December 22, 2026.

Who this exam targets

CySA+ is built for security analysts, SOC analysts, vulnerability analysts, threat intelligence analysts, and incident responders who work the alert queue, the scan report, and the incident ticket every day. CompTIA lists it as approved for DoD Directive 8140.03M requirements, which keeps it a common requirement for U.S. defense and federal-adjacent cybersecurity roles.

Prerequisites

There are no formal prerequisites. CompTIA recommends Network+, Security+, or equivalent knowledge, plus about four years of hands-on experience in a SOC analyst, incident response, or vulnerability analyst role. Candidates without that background can still pass, but should plan extra time on reading logs, packet captures, and scan output.

Why take this certification

• The analyst step between Security+ and SecurityX. CySA+ sits between SY0-701 Security+ and CAS-005 SecurityX, and proves you can operate security tooling and act on what it shows, not just name the controls.
• Current with the modern SOC. V4 is the only CySA+ version with dedicated AI coverage, plus updated cloud, Zero Trust, and supply chain content that reflects how security teams work today.
• Performance-based. Performance-based questions ask you to analyze alerts, review logs, investigate indicators of compromise, and prioritize vulnerabilities, so passing signals hands-on skill.
• Vendor-neutral skills that transfer. The exam tests SIEM, EDR, SOAR, and scanner workflows without tying you to one product, so the skills move with you between employers and toolsets.

What you'll learn in the CS0-004 exam

CS0-004 follows the full analyst workflow: understand the environment you defend, spot and investigate malicious activity, drive vulnerabilities to verified remediation, run an incident from detection to lessons learned, and report each step to the people who need it. Many objectives start with "Given a scenario", so expect to read evidence and choose an action rather than recall definitions.

Security operations (34%)

• Architecture for security operations: logging (ingestion, integrity, time synchronization, retention), OS hardening, cloud native and container concepts, ZTNA and SASE, IAM with PAM and secrets management, and OT/ICS/SCADA.
• Indicators of malicious activity across network, host, application, cloud, and identity: rogue devices, LOLBins, data exfiltration, impossible travel, typosquatting, and business email compromise.
• Investigation tools: Wireshark, tcpdump, Zeek, Snort and Suricata, SIEM, EDR/XDR, CyberChef, YARA, VirusTotal, sandboxes, threat intelligence platforms such as MISP and OpenCTI, and reading JSON, XML, YAML, EVTX, Python, PowerShell, and shell scripts.
• Threat intelligence and hunting: APTs and insider threats, MITRE ATT&CK and the Pyramid of Pain, confidence levels, IoC types, STRIDE threat modeling, and cyber deception.
• Process improvement and AI: playbooks, SOAR and infrastructure as code, alert tuning, API and webhook integration, and the risks, governance, and use cases of AI in the SOC.

Vulnerability management (26%)

• Scanning methods: asset inventory, scan planning, internal vs external, agent vs agentless, credentialed vs non-credentialed, passive vs active, and baseline scans against PCI DSS, CIS benchmarks, and ISO 27000.
• Assessment tool output from Nmap, Nessus, OpenVAS, Nuclei, Burp Suite, ZAP, Nikto, cloud assessment tools such as ScoutSuite, Prowler, Trivy, and Checkov, and breach attack simulation with Atomic Red Team and Caldera.
• Prioritization and mitigation: CVSS metrics, EPSS, active exploitation, asset value, true and false positives, compensating controls, exceptions, and validating remediation.
• Controls, risk, and governance: control types and functions, risk appetite and strategies, SLOs, SAST, DAST, SAMM, and third-party risk with SCA and SBOM.

Incident response and management (24%)

• Attack methodology frameworks: the Cyber Kill Chain, the Diamond Model of Intrusion Analysis, and MITRE ATT&CK.
• The incident response process: preparation, detection, analysis, containment, eradication, recovery, and post-incident activity.
• Response techniques: plans and playbooks, tabletop and simulation training, log collection and correlation, triage, timelines, severity and prioritization, evidence handling with chain of custody and legal hold, isolation, escalation, restoration, root cause analysis, and corrective actions.

Reporting and communication (16%)

• Vulnerability management reporting: scan reports, compliance findings, risk scorecards, action plans, inhibitors to remediation such as legacy systems and business process interruption, and KPIs like trends, top risks, and SLAs.
• Security operations and incident reporting: incident declaration, executive summaries, communication plans for legal, PR, regulators, law enforcement, and customers, after action reports, shift handover, and metrics such as mean time to detect, respond, and remediate.

How the practice exams help

Every free question and every premium exam follows the CS0-004 objectives and domain weightings, with scenario-based stems built around log snippets, scan results, and incident decisions. Each explanation covers why the right answer is right and why every distractor is wrong, so you build exam-day timing, find your weak domains early, and fix them before you book.

How to prepare for the CS0-004 exam

A strong CS0-004 plan combines objective-by-objective study, hands-on evidence analysis, and timed practice. Recommended approach:

1. Study the V4 objectives (2 to 4 weeks). Start from the official objectives on the CompTIA CySA+ V4 page and work through our CS0-004 online study guide, which covers all 4 domains and 15 objectives with free overviews and premium chapters bundled with the course. Spend the most time in Security Operations and Vulnerability Management, which together make up 60% of the exam.
2. Practice reading evidence (2 to 3 weeks). Open packet captures in Wireshark, read Zeek and SIEM output, decode artifacts with CyberChef, and interpret Nmap, Nessus, or OpenVAS results. The objectives also cover regular expressions, suspicious commands, and Python, PowerShell, and shell scripts, so practice reading them until their intent is clear at a glance.
3. Review frameworks and the new V4 material (1 week). Revisit MITRE ATT&CK, the Cyber Kill Chain, and the Diamond Model, the incident handling guidance in NIST SP 800-61, and how EPSS complements CVSS. Close with the AI objective: risks, governance, and SOC use cases.
4. Practice exams (1 to 2 weeks). Start with the free 10-question sample above, then work the 18 premium practice exams of 85 questions each, 1,530 questions with a detailed explanation on every option. Each exam matches the real exam's maximum length, so take them timed at 165 minutes and aim for consistent scores of 80% or higher before you schedule.

Recommended timeline

CompTIA expects most candidates to spend roughly 30 to 55 hours studying and practicing. At about 10 hours a week, that is 3 to 6 weeks. If you are new to blue-team work or coming straight from Security+, plan 8 to 12 weeks with extra hands-on time.

Official resources

Download the official CompTIA CySA+ CS0-004 exam objectives before you start. CompTIA's CertMaster Learn, Practice, Labs, and Perform products cover the core curriculum and hands-on practice, and our online study guide and practice exams on this page help you check your readiness objective by objective.

Frequently asked questions