CompTIA PenTest+ Exam Certification Details:

Reference: https://certification.comptia.org/certifications/pentest

Job Roles Associated with CompTIA PT0-001 Exam

After passing the CompTIA PT0-001 exam, you become eligible for the PenTest+ certification. This certificate can help the IT professionals accelerate their career growth by adding the knowledge and skills that many recruiters are looking for. The certification is very valuable in terms of employment opportunities. There are several positions that you will qualify for after obtaining this certificate. Some of the job titles you can apply for include:

• Penetration Tester
• Vulnerability Tester
• Vulnerability Assessment Analyst
• Network Security Operator
• Security Analyst

Getting the CompTIA PenTest+ certification also enables you to earn a better salary. The estimated average annual income for the professionals holding this certificate amounts to $97,000. With some level of experience and additional industry-recognized certifications, you can get paid even more.

Skills Outline of CompTIA PT0-001 Exam

The CompTIA PT0-001 exam assesses the candidates’ understanding of a wide range of topic areas. The skills evaluated in this certification test are combined in five domains that have different percentage weight in the certification exam syllabus. These objectives are highlighted below:

• Planning and Scoping (15%)

  This subject area assesses the individuals’ comprehension of the target audience and rules of engagement. The candidates need to prove that they are conversant with the communication escalation path and resource and requirements, including known vs. unknown and confidentiality of findings. They also have to demonstrate their ability to come up with disclaimers, budget, and impact analysis and remediation. In addition, the students have to show that they can explain key legal concepts, describe the importance of planning for the agreement, explain the importance of properly scoping an engagement, and explain the main aspects of compliance-based assessments.

• Information Gathering and Vulnerability Identification (22%)

  Within this domain, the learners will need to show their proficiency in conducting information gathering with the use of appropriate techniques, performing a vulnerability scan, analyzing vulnerability scan results, and explaining the process of leveraging a piece of information to prepare for exploitation. They are also required to demonstrate their proficiency in explaining weaknesses that are related to specialized systems, such as RTOS, application containers, biometrics, ICS, SCADA, point-of-sale system, embedded, Internet of Things, and mobile.

• Penetration Testing Tools (17%)

  To answer the questions from this objective, the applicants should know how to use Nmap to accomplish information-gathering exercises, compare and contrast the use case tools, analyze data and tool output related to a penetration test, and analyze a basic script (limited mainly to PowerShell, Ruby, Python, and Bash).

• Reporting and Communication (16%)

  Within this section, the test takers need to prove their expertise in handling best practices and using report writing, explaining post-report delivery activities, explaining the importance of communication as the penetration process continues, recommending mitigation strategies for the discovered abilities. These include a written report of remediation and findings, normalization of data, secure disposition and handling of reports, storage time for the report, risk appetite, password encryption, system hardening, and implementing multifactor authentication.

• Attacks and Exploits (30%)

  Within this skill area, the examinees need to show their knowledge of comparing and contrasting social engineering attacks, including phishing (whaling, voice phishing, SMS phishing, spear phishing) and elicitation (business email compromise). In addition, they need to prove their ability to exploit network-based vulnerabilities, exploit RF-based and wireless vulnerabilities, exploit application-based vulnerabilities, exploit local host vulnerabilities, perform post-exploitation techniques, and summarize physical security attacks that are related to facilities.

PT0-001 Prerequisites

Notably, CompTIA suggests a certain level of experience and knowledge before one can take PT0-001. During the exam, candidates have to prove skills in determining a network's strength and security from malicious attack activities. They should be equipped with an intermediate understanding of how to customize evaluation frameworks for adequate work progress and be aware of the best procedures to communicate and recommend new ideas to improve the general state of IT security. In addition, having Security+, Network+ or equivalent knowledge is recommended, along with a minimum of 3 to 4 years' experience in IT security or any related area.