CompTIA PenTest+ and CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) are both respected certifications, but they differ in focus. PenTest+ emphasizes intermediate hands-on skills and covers all stages of penetration testing, while CEH focuses more on basic cybersecurity and pen testing knowledge. PenTest+ is often seen as more practical and cost-effective.
Course Overview
CompTIA PenTest+ validates your ability to identify, mitigate, and report system vulnerabilities. Covering all stages of penetration testing across attack surfaces like cloud, web apps, APIs, and IoT, it emphasizes hands-on skills such as vulnerability management and lateral movement. This certification equips you with the expertise to advance your career as a penetration tester or security consultant.
Skills Learned
- Plan and scope penetration tests while ensuring compliance with legal and ethical requirements, and develop detailed reports with remediation recommendations to support engagement management.
- Perform active and passive reconnaissance, gather information, and enumerate systems to uncover vulnerabilities effectively.
- Conduct vulnerability scans, analyze results, and validate findings to identify and address security weaknesses.
- Execute network, host-based, web application, and cloud-based attacks using appropriate tools and techniques to test system defenses.
- Maintain persistence, perform lateral movement, and document findings to support remediation efforts during post-exploitation activities.
Exam Details
- Exam version: V3
- Exam series code: PT0-003
- Launch date: December 17, 2024
- Number of questions: maximum of 90, including multiple-choice and performance-based questions
- Length of test: 165 minutes
- Passing score: 750 (on a scale of 100–900)
- Recommended experience: 3–4 years in a penetration tester job role, with Network+ and Security+ or equivalent knowledge
- Languages: English on release; other languages TBD
- Retirement of the previous exam: June 17, 2025
- Retirement: Usually three years after launch (estimated 2027)
Career Path
Target Audiance
- IT professionals aiming to specialise in penetration testing and vulnerability assessment.
- Cybersecurity analysts and engineers who want to advance their skills in offensive security.
- Network and system administrators seeking to strengthen their knowledge of system security and testing methodologies.
- Security consultants responsible for identifying and mitigating risks in organisational infrastructures.
- Ethical hackers looking to gain an industry-recognised certification.
- Professionals preparing for mid-level cybersecurity roles that require hands-on penetration testing expertise.
- Individuals seeking to meet DoD 8570/8140 compliance requirements or equivalent organisational security standards.