earning the comptia cybersecurity analyst+

i earned the comptia cybersecurity analyst+ (cysa+) certification in august 2024 after completing security+. the certification focuses more heavily on security concepts, covering topics such as security operations, vulnerability management, incident response, threat intelligence, and analyzing security data.

to prepare for the exam, i primarily used the cysa+ study guide by mike chapple and david seidl, along with their 1,000-question practice test book. this was my first time using a textbook as my main study resource for a certification exam, and i found it incredibly helpful. reading from a physical book helped me stay focused and retain the material better.

the 1,000-question test bank was also extremely comprehensive, and i learned a lot simply by working through the questions and reviewing what i got wrong. i actually scored higher on cysa+ than i did on security+, and i think using the textbook as my primary study resource played a big part in that.

compared to security+, i found cysa+ to be more focused on applying what you know rather than simply memorizing security concepts. being familiar with the material from my cybersecurity degree and security+ definitely helped, but the exam required a little more attention to interpreting logs, identifying vulnerabilities, and determining the appropriate response to security incidents.

for anyone studying for cysa+, i’d recommend drilling through a crazy amount of practice questions. the study guide and practice tests from mike chapple and david seidl were especially useful and gave me a good idea of the types of concepts i needed to be comfortable with before taking the exam.