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CompTIA CS0-003 Exam

CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) Exam

Total Questions: 303

What is Included in the CompTIA CS0-003 Exam?

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CompTIA CS0-003 Exam Overview :

Exam Name CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) Exam
Exam Code CS0-003
Actual Exam Duration 165 minutes
Expected no. of Questions in Actual Exam 85
Exam Registration Price $392
Official Information https://www.comptia.org/certifications/cybersecurity-analyst
See Expected Questions CompTIA CS0-003 Expected Questions in Actual Exam
Take Self-Assessment Use CompTIA CS0-003 Practice Test to Assess your preparation - Save Time and Reduce Chances of Failure

CompTIA CS0-003 Exam Topics :

Section Weight Objectives
1.0 Security Operations 33% 1.1 Explain the importance of system and network architecture concepts in security operations.
• Log ingestion
- Time synchronization
- Logging levels
• Operating system (OS) concepts
- Windows Registry
- System hardening
- File structure
o Configuration file locations
- System processes
- Hardware architecture
• Infrastructure concepts
- Serverless
- Virtualization
- Containerization
• Network architecture
- On-premises
- Cloud
- Hybrid
- Network segmentation
- Zero trust
- Secure access secure edge (SASE)
- Software-defined networking (SDN)
• Identity and access management
- Multifactor authentication (MFA)
- Single sign-on (SSO)
- Federation
- Privileged access management (PAM)
- Passwordless
- Cloud access security broker (CASB)
• Encryption
- Public key infrastructure (PKI)
- Secure sockets layer (SSL) inspection
• Sensitive data protection
- Data loss prevention (DLP)
- Personally identifiable information (PII)
- Cardholder data (CHD)

1.2 Given a scenario, analyze indicators of potentially malicious activity.
• Network-related
- Bandwidth consumption
- Beaconing
- Irregular peer-to-peer communication
- Rogue devices on the network
- Scans/sweeps
- Unusual traffic spikes
- Activity on unexpected ports
• Host-related
- Processor consumption
- Memory consumption
- Drive capacity consumption
- Unauthorized software
- Malicious processes
- Unauthorized changes
- Unauthorized privileges
- Data exfiltration
- Abnormal OS process behavior
- File system changes or anomalies
- Registry changes or anomalies
- Unauthorized scheduled tasks
• Application-related
- Anomalous activity
- Introduction of new accounts

1.3 Given a scenario, use appropriate tools or techniques to determine malicious activity.
• Tools
- Packet capture
o Wireshark
o tcpdump
- Log analysis/correlation
o Security information and event management (SIEM)
o Security orchestration,
automation, and response (SOAR)
- Endpoint security
o Endpoint detection and response (EDR)
- Domain name service (DNS) and Internet Protocol (IP) reputation
o WHOIS
o AbuseIPDB
- File analysis
o Strings
o VirusTotal
- Sandboxing
o Joe Sandbox
o Cuckoo Sandbox
• Common techniques
- Pattern recognition
o Command and control
- Interpreting suspicious commands
- Email analysis
o Header
o Impersonation
o DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)
o Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC)
o Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
o Embedded links
- File analysis
o Hashing
- User behavior analysis
o Abnormal account activity
o Impossible travel
• Programming languages/scripting
- JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)
- Extensible Markup Language (XML)
- Python
- PowerShell
- Shell script
- Regular expressions

1.4 Compare and contrast threat-intelligence and threat-hunting concepts.
• Threat actors
- Advanced persistent threat (APT)
- Hacktivists
- Organized crime
- Nation-state
- Script kiddie
- Insider threat
o Intentional
o Unintentional
- Supply chain
• Tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP)
• Confidence levels
- Timeliness
- Relevancy
- Accuracy
• Collection methods and sources
- Open source
o Social media
o Blogs/forums
o Government bulletins
o Computer emergency response team (CERT)
o Cybersecurity incident response team (CSIRT)
o Deep/dark web
- Closed source
o Paid feeds
o Information sharing organizations
o Internal sources
• Threat intelligence sharing
- Incident response
- Vulnerability management
- Risk management
- Security engineering
- Detection and monitoring
• Threat hunting
- Indicators of compromise (IoC)
o Collection
o Analysis
o Application
- Focus areas
o Configurations/ misconfigurations
o Isolated networks
o Business-critical assets and processes
- Active defense
- Honeypot

1.5 Explain the importance of efficiency and process improvement in security operations.
• Standardize processes
- Identification of tasks suitable for automation
o Repeatable/do not require human interaction
- Team coordination to manage and facilitate automation
• Streamline operations
- Automation and orchestration
o Security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR)
- Orchestrating threat intelligence data
o Data enrichment
o Threat feed combination
- Minimize human engagement
• Technology and tool integration
- Application programming interface (API)
- Webhooks
- Plugins
• Single pane of glass
2.0 Vulnerability Management 30% 2.1 Given a scenario, implement vulnerability scanning methods and concepts.
• Asset discovery
- Map scans
- Device fingerprinting
• Special considerations
- Scheduling
- Operations
- Performance
- Sensitivity levels
- Segmentation
- Regulatory requirements
• Internal vs. external scanning
• Agent vs. agentless
• Credentialed vs. non-credentialed
• Passive vs. active
• Static vs. dynamic
- Reverse engineering
- Fuzzing
• Critical infrastructure
- Operational technology (OT)
- Industrial control systems (ICS)
- Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)
• Security baseline scanning
• Industry frameworks
- Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
- Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks
- Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP)
- International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 27000 series

2.2 Given a scenario, analyze output from vulnerability assessment tools.
• Tools
- Network scanning and mapping
o Angry IP Scanner
o Maltego
- Web application scanners
o Burp Suite
o Zed Attack Proxy (ZAP)
o Arachni
o Nikto
- Vulnerability scanners
o Nessus
o OpenVAS
- Debuggers
o Immunity debugger
o GNU debugger (GDB)
- Multipurpose
o Nmap
o Metasploit framework (MSF)
o Recon-ng
- Cloud infrastructure assessment tools
o Scout Suite
o Prowler
o Pacu

2.3 Given a scenario, analyze data to prioritize vulnerabilities.
• Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) interpretation
- Attack vectors
- Attack complexity
- Privileges required
- User interaction
- Scope
- Impact
o Confidentiality
o Integrity
o Availability
• Validation
- True/false positives
- True/false negatives
• Context awareness
- Internal
- External
- Isolated
• Exploitability/weaponization
• Asset value
• Zero-day

2.4 Given a scenario, recommend controls to mitigate attacks and software vulnerabilities.
• Cross-site scripting
- Reflected
- Persistent
• Overflow vulnerabilities
- Buffer
- Integer
- Heap
- Stack
• Data poisoning
• Broken access control
• Cryptographic failures
• Injection flaws
• Cross-site request forgery
• Directory traversal
• Insecure design
• Security misconfiguration
• End-of-life or outdated components
• Identification and authentication failures
• Server-side request forgery
• Remote code execution
• Privilege escalation
• Local file inclusion (LFI)/remote file inclusion (RFI)

2.5 Explain concepts related to vulnerability response, handling, and management.
• Compensating control
• Control types
- Managerial
- Operational
- Technical
- Preventative
- Detective
- Responsive
- Corrective
• Patching and configuration management
- Testing
- Implementation
- Rollback
- Validation
• Maintenance windows
• Exceptions
• Risk management principles
- Accept
- Transfer
- Avoid
- Mitigate
• Policies, governance, and service-level objectives (SLOs)
• Prioritization and escalation
• Attack surface management
- Edge discovery
- Passive discovery
- Security controls testing
- Penetration testing and adversary emulation
- Bug bounty
- Attack surface reduction
• Secure coding best practices
- Input validation
- Output encoding
- Session management
- Authentication
- Data protection
- Parameterized queries
• Secure software development life cycle (SDLC)
• Threat modeling
3.0 Incident Response and Management 20%
3.1 Explain concepts related to attack methodology frameworks.
• Cyber kill chains
• Diamond Model of IntrusionAnalysis
• MITRE ATT&CK
• Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSS TMM)

3.2 Given a scenario, perform incident response activities.
• Detection and analysis
- IoC
- Evidence acquisitions
o Chain of custody
o Validating data integrity
o Preservation
o Legal hold
- Data and log analysis
• Containment, eradication, and recovery
- Scope
- Impact
- Isolation
- Remediation
- Re-imaging
- Compensating controls

3.3 Explain the preparation and post-incident activity phases of the incident management life cycle.
• Preparation
- Incident response plan
- Tools
- Playbooks
- Tabletop
- Training
- Business continuity (BC)/ disaster recovery (DR)
• Post-incident activity
- Forensic analysis
- Root cause analysis
- Lessons learned
4.0 Reporting and Communication 17% 4.1Explain the importance of vulnerability management reporting and communication.
• Vulnerability management reporting
- Vulnerabilities
- Affected hosts
- Risk score
- Mitigation
- Recurrence
- Prioritization
• Compliance reports
• Action plans
- Configuration management
- Patching
- Compensating controls
- Awareness, education, and training
- Changing business requirements
• Inhibitors to remediation
- Memorandum of understanding (MOU)
- Service-level agreement (SLA)
- Organizational governance
- Business process interruption
- Degrading functionality
- Legacy systems
- Proprietary systems
• Metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Trends
- Top 10
- Critical vulnerabilities and zero-days
- SLOs
• Stakeholder identification and communication

4.2 Explain the importance of incident response reporting and communication.
• Stakeholder identification and communication
• Incident declaration and escalation
• Incident response reporting
- Executive summary
- Who, what, when, where, and why
- Recommendations
- Timeline
- Impact
- Scope
- Evidence
• Communications
- Legal
- Public relations
o Customer communication
o Media
- Regulatory reporting
- Law enforcement
• Root cause analysis
• Lessons learned
• Metrics and KPIs
- Mean time to detect
- Mean time to respond
- Mean time to remediate
- Alert volume

Updates in the CompTIA CS0-003 Exam Topics:

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