Security+ · SY0-801
SY0-801 vs SY0-701: what changed on Security+
CompTIA lists November 17, 2026 as the launch date for its new Security+ exam, SY0-801. The old one, SY0-701, doesn't disappear that day. This page covers what changed between them and which one to sit.
Which exam should you take?
In English, SY0-701 retires on June 11, 2027. Until then you can book either exam, which gives you roughly seven months of overlap.
If your 701 date is a few weeks out and your prep is on track, there's no reason to switch. Your material was written for the exam you booked, and it still matches it.
If you're partway through 701 material and can test well before June 11, 2027, finishing on 701 is a fair call. Leave room for a retake before the retirement date, and don't book the last week.
If you're starting from zero, or you won't test until after June 11, 2027, study for 801. That's the exam everything in this site's Security+ section is built for.
If you plan to test in Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish or Thai, 701 stays your exam until August 13, 2027, because 801 launches in English only.
The format didn't change
Both exams cap at 90 questions and mix multiple choice with performance-based questions. You get 90 minutes, and the passing score is 750 on a scale of 100 to 900. If you've sat a 701 practice test, the shape of exam day won't surprise you.
The domain weights moved
| Domain | SY0-701 | SY0-801 |
|---|---|---|
| General Security Concepts | 12% | 16% |
| Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Attacks (701: “and Mitigations”) | 22% | 24% |
| Security Architecture | 18% | 19% |
| Security Operations | 28% | 27% |
| Security Program Management and Oversight | 20% | 14% |
The biggest move is at the bottom. Program management fell from 20% to 14%, so governance, risk and compliance take up less of your exam. General concepts and threats picked up most of that ground. Security Operations is still the largest domain at 27%.
The second domain got a new name, too. “Mitigations” became “Attacks”, and the weight on it went up.
AI risk gets its own objective
CompTIA says the new version expands coverage of AI-related risks, and the 801 objectives back that up. One whole objective is about the risks AI itself brings into an organization. Large language models appear as an attack surface, and AI-driven tools show up in the security operations domain. So an 801 scenario can put an AI system on either side, as the target being attacked or as the tool doing the defending.
Smaller changes
Recommended experience. For 701, CompTIA suggests Network+ plus two years in a security or systems administrator role. For 801 it suggests two years of hands-on work as a security administrator, and Network+ is no longer in that line.
Languages. 801 launches in English only. 701 runs in English, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish and Thai, and the non-English versions stay available until August 13, 2027.
Where to practice for 801
Everything in the Security+ section of this site is built against CompTIA's final 801 objectives:
- Question bank: original questions with every answer explained
- PBQ labs: hands-on tasks, a few open with no signup
- Timed simulator: 90 questions in 90 minutes
- SECURITY+ AIRPORT: the SY0-801 study guide, in paperback and Kindle
Checked against CompTIA's official Security+ pages on November 4, 2026.
More practice
450 more Security+ questions on Udemy.
Five more timed 90-question exams for SY0-801, with no question repeated from this site. Every answer is explained, the wrong choices included.