CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst+

CS0-003 · ● Active · Associate · CompTIA

Security operations, threat detection, vulnerability management, incident response. Bridges Security+ foundational knowledge with hands-on detection engineering, SOC operations, and threat hunting. Launched June 2023 (replaced CS0-002, retired December 5, 2023). DoD 8140-approved for CSSP Analyst, Infrastructure Support, Incident Responder, and Auditor roles.

Exam facts

Vendor source — CompTIA CySA+ Certification ↗

Official exam guide — CySA+ CS0-003 Exam Objectives ↗

Exam delivery — Pearson VUE CompTIA Testing ↗

About

CompTIA CySA+ (CS0-003) is the industry-standard associate-level certification for security operations, threat detection, and incident response professionals. It validates hands-on competency in SIEM management, vulnerability analysis, incident handling (NIST 800-61), threat hunting with MITRE ATT&CK, and reporting to executive stakeholders. CySA+ stacks directly above Security+ and serves as a prerequisite or co-requisite for advanced certs (PenTest+, CASP+/SecurityX, CISSP). Mid-career SOC analysts, threat hunters, detection engineers, and incident responders pursue CySA+ to formalize skills and unlock senior SOC or security engineering roles. CS0-003 became the active version June 12, 2023, with CS0-002 officially retired December 5, 2023.

Domain context — Security

Defensive security operations, threat detection, and incident response within enterprise/government environments. Security domain spans foundational (Security+) through advanced (CASP+/SecurityX, CISSP) certifications, plus specialized tracks in forensics (GCFA, GREM), offensive testing (PenTest+, OSCP), and governance (CISM, CISA, CISSP).

Read full deep dive — Security Domain →

Topics covered

The exam blueprint organizes content into four domains with explicit weightings:

• Security Operations (33%) — Analyze security alerts and events; manage SIEM tools (Splunk, QRadar, Sentinel, Sumo Logic); interpret logs and network traffic; perform vulnerability assessment and remediation; apply security controls
• Vulnerability Management (30%) — Conduct scans (Nessus, Qualys, OpenVAS); interpret findings; prioritize by CVSS score; recommend mitigation; validate patches and config changes; document remediation
• Incident Response and Management (20%) — Apply NIST SP 800-61 framework; detect and contain incidents; triage, analyze, eradicate; preserve evidence; root-cause analysis and post-incident review
• Reporting and Communication (17%) — Create executive-level reports; document threat intelligence (MITRE ATT&CK, STIX/TAXII); communicate findings to stakeholders; present metrics/KPIs; translate for non-technical audiences

Source: CompTIA CySA+ Exam Blueprint ↗

Common skills at Security · Associate

Shared content for the Security domain at Associate level — not specific to this cert.

• SIEM analysis and alert tuning (Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, IBM QRadar, Elastic)
• Log analysis, query syntax, data correlation across cloud and on-premises networks
• Vulnerability scanning interpretation (CVSS scoring, remediation prioritization)
• Network traffic analysis (packet capture, protocol inspection, anomaly detection)
• MITRE ATT&CK threat modeling and IOC recognition
• NIST 800-61 incident response procedures (preparation, detection, containment, eradication, recovery, post-incident review)
• Threat hunting basics and behavioral analysis
• Compliance mapping (NIST CSF, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, CMMC 2.0)

Recommended courses at Security · Associate

Course-selection rule: Each course must be specifically for CS0-003 (not generic "security operations" content). All listed above are certified CySA+ prep.

Practice exams

Books

Book rule: All three titles are current for CS0-003. Chapple/Seidl (Sybex) is the most comprehensive; includes hands-on labs and comprehensive domain breakdowns. Pearson Cert Guide is exam-centric with video lessons bundled.

Typical job titles at Security · Associate

SOC Analyst (L2/L3) · Threat Hunter · Incident Responder · Detection Engineer · Vulnerability Analyst · Threat Intelligence Analyst · Security Operations Specialist · Incident Response Coordinator

(Job titles drawn from current job-board postings that list CySA+ as required or preferred, sourced from Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, LinkedIn, April–May 2026.)

Salary

Salary notes: Mid-career CySA+ holders (SOC L2/L3, 3–7 yrs experience) report 15–25% salary increase post-cert. Threat Detection Engineers and senior incident responders with CySA+ command $120K–$170K+ in US markets. Regional variation: SF Bay Area +15–20% over national average; remote roles trend toward national median.

Verified sources: Glassdoor Threat Detection Engineer ↗, ZipRecruiter CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst ↗, PayScale Threat Intelligence Analyst ↗, StationX CySA+ Salary 2026 ↗

Skills validated

Cert-specific — what this exam actually tests, distinct from the shared "Common skills" above.

• SIEM configuration and alert tuning (false-positive reduction, threshold optimization)
• Log aggregation, normalization, and query languages (SPL, KQL, ELK Query DSL)
• Vulnerability scanner output interpretation (Nessus .nessus files, Qualys APIs, OpenVAS exports)
• CVSS v3.1 scoring and vulnerability prioritization frameworks
• Network packet analysis (tcpdump, Wireshark; DNS/HTTP/TLS inspection)
• MITRE ATT&CK framework navigation and technique mapping to observables
• STIX/TAXII threat intelligence feed consumption and automation
• NIST 800-61 incident response playbook development and execution
• Chain-of-custody evidence handling and forensic triage
• Root-cause analysis and post-incident review (RCA, IR lessons learned)
• Executive reporting and metric/KPI visualization (dashboards, trend analysis)
• Threat actor profiling and behavioral analysis (APT attribution, TTP patterns)
• Regulatory compliance mapping (NIST CSF, ISO 27001, PCI-DSS controls)

Related certifications

• Stacks with: CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) ↗ (prerequisite; bridges entry-level to operations), CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-003) ↗ (offensive depth; parallel track)
• Prerequisite for: CompTIA CASP+ / SecurityX (CAS-005) ↗ (architecture; 10+ yrs experience required), ISC2 CISSP ↗ (requires 5 yrs domain experience; CySA+ counts as 1 yr in "Security Operations" domain)
• Equivalents at this level: GIAC GCIH (Certified Incident Handler) ↗, ISC2 SSCP ↗
• Replaces: CompTIA CySA+ CS0-002 (retired December 5, 2023)
• Vendor overview: CompTIA Vendor Overview ↗

Sources

• CompTIA CySA+ Certification Overview
• CompTIA CySA+ CS0-003 Exam Objectives
• Pearson VUE Testing Centers
• DoD 8140 Cybersecurity Workforce Framework
• NIST SP 800-61 Incident Handling Revision 2
• MITRE ATT&CK Framework
• CompTIA CertMaster Labs
• Glassdoor Threat Detection Engineer Salary 2026
• ZipRecruiter CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst Salary
• PayScale Threat Intelligence Analyst Salary
• StationX CySA+ Salary 2026 Analysis
• CompTIA CySA+ Study Guide (3rd ed.) — Sybex
• Professor Messer CySA+ YouTube Playlist
• Jason Dion CySA+ Udemy Course

Last verified: 2026-05-01

Parent ecosystem: CompTIA Security Certification Stack

Parent domain: Security Domain

Vendor overview: CompTIA Vendor Overview