CAS-004 Study Guide — How to Pass CompTIA SecurityX / CASP+

Month 1

Security Architecture: enterprise security design, cloud, network, endpoint, zero-trust models

Tip: CASP+ questions describe complex enterprise scenarios and ask what you would implement — not just what a technology does. Start thinking at the systems level: how do identity, network segmentation, encryption, and monitoring interact?

Month 2

Security Operations: vulnerability management, threat intelligence, incident response at scale

Tip: Threat hunting and intelligence operations are heavily covered on CAS-004. Know how to read IOCs (Indicators of Compromise), how MITRE ATT&CK is used for threat modelling, and how SOAR platforms automate IR playbooks.

Month 3

Security Engineering: cryptography implementation, PKI design, hardware security (HSM, TPM)

Tip: Cryptography on CASP+ goes deeper than Security+: know when to use RSA vs ECDSA vs EdDSA, what perfect forward secrecy means and which TLS cipher suites provide it, and when an HSM is required vs software key storage.

Month 4

Governance, Risk and Compliance: risk frameworks, audit types, data privacy regulations

Tip: GRC scenarios ask for prioritisation decisions under budget constraints. Know how to calculate risk (likelihood × impact), how to distinguish between risk acceptance, avoidance, mitigation, and transfer, and when each is appropriate.

Month 5–6

Performance-based question practice and full mock exams

Tip: CASP+ has no passing score — it is pass/fail graded by a panel. CompTIA does not publish the cut score. Focus on demonstrated competency across all domains rather than trying to hit a specific percentage in practice tests.