Free CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) Roadmap
The industry-standard entry certification for a cyber security role. Five exam domains, taught end to end, then proven in hands-on labs across Windows and Linux.
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How Security+ compares
The free roadmap
9 steps, in order
The 🔒 rows show what the full roadmap adds at each step. StationX Membership opens every course and its labs: $299 / year ($24.92/mo billed annually). Infrastructure Labs labs are a separate add-on.
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Step 1 — Learn the exam material
Cover all five SY0-701 domains end to end.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: 2 full courses (Membership)
- Course · CompTIA Security+ Certification (SY0-701): The Total Course · 🔒 Membership
- Course · Security+ (SY0-701) - Self-paced Course! · 🔒 Membership
Step 2 — General security concepts and threats
Know the vocabulary, control types, and the current threat landscape.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: 2 full courses · hands-on labs 1–22 of 148 (Membership)
- Course · CompTIA Security+ SY0-701: General Security Concepts · 🔒 Membership
- Course · CompTIA Security+: Viruses, Threats and Compromise Indicators · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 1 of 148 · Additional Scanning Options · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 2 of 148 · Basics of Metasploit · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 3 of 148 · BCP DRP and Test Planning · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 4 of 148 · BitLocker Setup · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 5 of 148 · Block Incoming Traffic on Known Port · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 6 of 148 · Comparing Controls · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 7 of 148 · Creating a List of Installed Programs, Services and User Accounts from a WIN2K12 Server · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 8 of 148 · Creation of BCP and DRP · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 9 of 148 · Data Backup to Prep for Recovery · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 10 of 148 · Event Log · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 11 of 148 · Host Data Integrity Baselining · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 12 of 148 · Installing Patches and Testing Software · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 13 of 148 · MITRE - Attack · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 14 of 148 · MITRE - Defend · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 15 of 148 · Network Discovery · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 16 of 148 · Network Segmentation (FW/DMZ/WAN/LAN) · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 17 of 148 · Network Topology Generation · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 18 of 148 · Open Source Collection · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 19 of 148 · Open Source Password Cracking · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 20 of 148 · Scanning From Windows · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 21 of 148 · Windows Event Log Manipulation via Windows Event Viewer · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 22 of 148 · Wireshark · 🔒 Membership
Step 3 — Identity and account management
Create, restrict and audit users, groups and permissions on both platforms.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: hands-on labs 23–40 of 148 (Infrastructure Labs)
- Lab 23 of 148 · Manage Users and Groups in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 24 of 148 · Manage Users and Groups in Windows [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 25 of 148 · Can You Manage Users and Groups in Windows and Linux? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 26 of 148 · Configure Password Management in Windows [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 27 of 148 · Configure Password Management in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 28 of 148 · Can You Manage Password Requirements in Windows and Linux? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 29 of 148 · Configure Standard Linux Permissions [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 30 of 148 · Configure Standard Windows Permissions [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 31 of 148 · Can You Configure Standard Linux and Windows Permissions? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 32 of 148 · Can You Manage Access in Linux and Windows? [Expert] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 33 of 148 · Can You Harden the SSH Service on a Linux Server? [Advanced} · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 34 of 148 · Force Users to Change Password Upon First Sign In [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 35 of 148 · Remove a User Account [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 36 of 148 · Can You Add Server Access for a Group? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 37 of 148 · Examine Log Files to Block Bad Actors [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 38 of 148 · Harden a Server by Limiting Access to a Single Subnet [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 39 of 148 · Can You Harden a Server by Restricting Access per Protocol? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 40 of 148 · Can You Harden a Linux Web Server? [Expert] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
Step 4 — Cryptography and PKI
Issue certificates, secure services with TLS, and attack weak crypto.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: hands-on labs 41–65 of 148 (14 labs in Membership · 11 labs in Infrastructure Labs)
- Lab 41 of 148 · Deploy a Private Certificate Authority [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 42 of 148 · Configure Custom Certificate Templates and Deployment Options [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 43 of 148 · Manually Request a PKI Certificate [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 44 of 148 · Can You Deploy a Certificate Authority and Issue Certificates? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 45 of 148 · Enable DNSSEC [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 46 of 148 · Use EFS To Encrypt Files on NTFS Volumes [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 47 of 148 · Can You Secure DNS Resource Records and Windows NTFS Volume File Objects? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 48 of 148 · Enable SSL/TLS on a Website [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 49 of 148 · Enable Client SSL/TLS [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 50 of 148 · Can You Secure a Website with an SSL/TLS Certificate? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 51 of 148 · Can You Use PKI to Secure a Network Environment? [Expert] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 52 of 148 · Cryptography: Attacking Classic Ciphers · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 53 of 148 · Cryptography: Breaking Repeated Key XOR Cipher · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 54 of 148 · Cryptography: Breaking Weak RSA Keys · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 55 of 148 · Cryptography: Decrypting Files With a Dictionary Attack · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 56 of 148 · Cryptography: Forging Digital Signatures · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 57 of 148 · Cryptography: Forging MACs With Side Channels · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 58 of 148 · Cryptography: Hidden Veracrypt Containers · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 59 of 148 · Cryptography: Man In the Middle Attack · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 60 of 148 · Cryptography: Password Cracking · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 61 of 148 · Cryptography: Setting Up HTTPS in Windows and Linux · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 62 of 148 · Cryptography: Setting Up Two Factor Authentication · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 63 of 148 · Cryptography: Steganography · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 64 of 148 · Cryptography: Using GPG for Encryption and Key Management · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 65 of 148 · Cryptography: Using the OpenSSL CLI Tool · 🔒 Membership
Step 5 — Securing systems and networks
Harden hosts, configure firewalls and IPSec, and spot insecure traffic.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: hands-on labs 66–95 of 148 (10 labs in Membership · 20 labs in Infrastructure Labs)
- Lab 66 of 148 · Getting Started with Security Concepts in Windows and Linux Environments [Getting Started] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 67 of 148 · Configure Windows Firewall ACL Rules [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 68 of 148 · Configure Linux Firewall ACL Rules [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 69 of 148 · Configure Security Settings by Using Microsoft Group Policy [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 70 of 148 · Identify Non-secure Network Traffic [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 71 of 148 · Can You Secure Host Settings Through Firewall Settings and Group Policy? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 72 of 148 · Configure IPSec [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 73 of 148 · Configure a Windows PPTP VPN [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 74 of 148 · Can You Secure Network Access? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 75 of 148 · Can You Harden Windows Hosts? [Expert] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 76 of 148 · Back Up and Restore Data in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 77 of 148 · Back Up and Restore Data in Windows [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 78 of 148 · Can You Back Up and Restore Data in Windows and Linux? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 79 of 148 · Configure and Test the Firewall in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 80 of 148 · Configure and Test the Firewall in Windows [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 81 of 148 · Can You Configure the Firewall in Linux and Windows? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 82 of 148 · Configure Patch Management in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 83 of 148 · Configure Update Management in Windows [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 84 of 148 · Can You Configure Update Management in Linux and Windows? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 85 of 148 · Can You Manage Windows and Linux Systems? [Expert] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 86 of 148 · Applying Filters to TCPDump and Wireshark · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 87 of 148 · DNS as a Remote Shell · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 88 of 148 · Firewall Setup and Configuration · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 89 of 148 · Gap Analysis of Firewall Rules · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 90 of 148 · Implementing Least-Privilege on Windows · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 91 of 148 · Setting Up Zones in a Firewall · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 92 of 148 · Snorby Setup and Operation · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 93 of 148 · TCPDump · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 94 of 148 · Tweaking Firewall Rules for Detection · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 95 of 148 · Using Snort and Wireshark to Analyze Traffic · 🔒 Membership
Step 6 — Security operations — tools of the trade
Use the defensive and offensive tooling the exam expects you to recognise.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: 1 full course · hands-on labs 96–107 of 148 (course in Membership · 12 labs in Infrastructure Labs)
- Course · CompTIA Security+ Labs · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 96 of 148 · Getting Started with Cybersecurity Defensive Tools [Getting Started] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 97 of 148 · Managing Log Files on a Windows Server [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 98 of 148 · Configure Windows Defender on a Windows System [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 99 of 148 · Configure a Local Security Policy on Server 2016 [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 100 of 148 · Can You Use the Sysinternals Suite to Review Permissions on a Windows System? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 101 of 148 · Using Encryption to Secure Information [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 102 of 148 · Can You Configure Drive Encryption by Using LUKS and BitLocker? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 103 of 148 · Can You Configure Remote Administration by Using PuTTY and SSH? [Expert] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 104 of 148 · Use a Password Cracking Utility in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 105 of 148 · Can You Use PowerShell to Gather Computer Information in Windows? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 106 of 148 · Escalate Privileges in Linux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 107 of 148 · Can You Enumerate Network Services by Using Port Scanning in Linux? [Advanced] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
Step 7 — Governance, risk and compliance
Run risk assessments, compare controls, plan continuity and recovery, and manage third-party risk and audits.
Hands-on step: the labs for it are on the full roadmap.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: hands-on labs 108–125 of 148 (Membership)
- Lab 108 of 148 · Auditing Service Accounts and Setting Up Automated Log Collection · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 109 of 148 · Centralized Monitoring · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 110 of 148 · CIRP Creation and Disaster · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 111 of 148 · Creation of Standard Operating Procedures for Recovery · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 112 of 148 · Data Downloads and Validation · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 113 of 148 · Force Point: DLP Email Overview · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 114 of 148 · Force Point: DLP Network Overview · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 115 of 148 · Identifying Key Assets · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 116 of 148 · Leveraging Internal Intelligence Resources · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 117 of 148 · Log Correlation & Analysis to Identify Potential IOC · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 118 of 148 · Monitoring and Verifying Management Systems · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 119 of 148 · Open and Close Ports on Windows 7 · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 120 of 148 · Phishing · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 121 of 148 · Post Incident Service Restoration · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 122 of 148 · Ransomware · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 123 of 148 · Recover from SQL Injection Attack · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 124 of 148 · Sensitive Information Identification · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 125 of 148 · Vulnerability Identification and Remediation · 🔒 Membership
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Step 8 — Guided labs written for SY0-701
Do the sixteen current-exam tasks: harden Linux and Windows hosts, sign code, automate with Ansible, back up, monitor and alert.
Hands-on step: the labs for it are on the full roadmap.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: hands-on labs 126–141 of 148 (Infrastructure Labs)
- Lab 126 of 148 · Use Git to Manage Code [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 127 of 148 · Analyze Log Files for Malicious Activity [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 128 of 148 · Identify and Manage Old Software [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 129 of 148 · Deploy a Docker Container [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 130 of 148 · Deploy a Virtual Machine [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 131 of 148 · Configure a Jump Box [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 132 of 148 · Manage File Redundancy for Resilience and Recovery [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 133 of 148 · Manage System Restore Using Windows 11 [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 134 of 148 · Use Alerting and Monitoring Tools [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 135 of 148 · Digitally Sign Code To Verify Authenticity [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 136 of 148 · Configure a Wireless Access Point [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 137 of 148 · Sanitize Storage Disks [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 138 of 148 · Enhance Security by Using SELinux [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 139 of 148 · Manage Configurations by Using Ansible [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 140 of 148 · Configure Devices by Using Ansible [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
- Lab 141 of 148 · Perform Security Audits on Linux Services [Guided] · 🔒 Infrastructure Labs
Step 9 — Put it together on live machines
Work unguided against realistic scenarios before exam day.
Hands-on step: the labs for it are on the full roadmap.
🔒 The full roadmap adds here: 1 full course · hands-on labs 142–148 of 148 (Membership)
- Course · Security+ Just Labs: The Ultimate Hands-On Bootcamp · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 142 of 148 · Baseline Systems in Accordance with Policy Documentation · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 143 of 148 · Conduct Baseline Comparison for Indicators of Compromise · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 144 of 148 · Creating a Baseline Using Autopsy · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 145 of 148 · Creating a Secondary Baseline and Conducting Comparison · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 146 of 148 · Manually Creating a Baseline with MD5Deep · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 147 of 148 · Recovering Data and Data Integrity Checks · 🔒 Membership
- Lab 148 of 148 · Windows Deployment Services · 🔒 Membership
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Exam and next steps
Before the exam
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The full CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) roadmap
The same steps with every course and the hands-on labs, and your progress tracked.
The full roadmap with labs →What Membership includes · Full refund within 30 days if you haven't started a lab · cancel anytimeAdvanced
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