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PenTest+ V3

  • 4.9(5,754 Rating)

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

Flexible Training Options to
Meet Your Needs

We understand that flexibility is key to effective learning and development, especially in today’s dynamic work environment. That’s why we offer multiple delivery formats for our trainings in UAE. Whether you prefer the interaction of in-person classes, the convenience of live virtual training, or the independence of self-paced online learning, we have a solution tailored to your schedule. Our goal is to make professional growth accessible to everyone, allowing you to upskill without compromising your other commitments.

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.

Schedule Dates

27 October 2025 - 31 October 2025
PenTest+ V3
02 February 2026 - 06 February 2026
PenTest+ V3
04 May 2026 - 08 May 2026
PenTest+ V3
10 August 2026 - 14 August 2026
PenTest+ V3

Course Content

  • Planning and scoping: defining rules of engagement, testing windows, and target selection.
  • Legal and ethical compliance: ensuring authorization letters, mandatory reporting, and adherence to regulations.
  • Collaboration and communication: aligning with stakeholders through peer reviews, escalation paths, and risk articulation.
  • Penetration test reports: creating reports with executive summaries, findings, and remediation recommendations.

  • Active and passive reconnaissance: gathering information using open-source intelligence (OSINT), network sniffing, and protocol scanning.
  • Enumeration techniques: performing DNS enumeration, service discovery, and directory enumeration.
  • Reconnaissance tools: using tools like Nmap, Wireshark, and Shodan for information gathering.
  • Script modification: customizing Python, PowerShell, and Bash scripts for reconnaissance and enumeration.

  • Vulnerability scans: conducting authenticated, unauthenticated, static application security testing (SAST) and dynamic application security testing (DAST).
  • Result analysis: validating findings, troubleshooting configurations, and identifying false positives.
  • Discovery tools: using tools like Nessus, Nikto, and OpenVAS for vulnerability discovery.

  • Network attacks: performing VLAN hopping, on-path attacks, and service exploitation.
  • Authentication attacks: executing brute-force attacks, pass-the-hash, and credential stuffing.
  • Host-based attacks: conducting privilege escalation, process injection, and credential dumping.
  • Web application attacks: performing SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and directory traversal.
  • Cloud-based attacks: exploiting container escapes, metadata service attacks, and identity and access management (IAM) misconfiguration.
  • AI attacks: explaining prompt injection and model manipulation against artificial intelligence systems.

  • Post-exploitation activities: establishing persistence, performing lateral movement, and cleaning up artifacts.
  • Documentation: creating attack narratives and providing remediation recommendations.

FAQs

CompTIA PenTest+ is a cybersecurity certification that validates your skills in penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, and mitigation. It ensures you can identify, exploit, and report system vulnerabilities across various attack surfaces, including cloud, web apps, APIs, IoT, and hybrid environments.

The certification covers all stages of penetration testing, including planning and scoping, reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery, attacks and exploits, and post-exploitation activities. It also emphasizes hands-on skills, such as lateral movement, vulnerability management, and artificial intelligence.

The difficulty of the PenTest+ exam depends on your background and experience. It is an intermediate-level certification designed for professionals with 3–4 years of hands-on experience in penetration testing or related roles. Proper preparation, including hands-on practice and studying the exam objectives, is key to success.

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.

CompTIA PenTest+ is widely recognized for its practical, hands-on approach to penetration testing. It is the only certification that covers all stages of penetration testing, including planning, reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery, attacks, and post-exploitation. Its vendor-neutral nature makes it applicable across industries and technologies.

Yes, CompTIA PenTest+ is highly regarded in the cybersecurity field. It is a vendor-neutral certification that demonstrates your ability to perform penetration testing and vulnerability assessments, making it valuable for roles like penetration tester, security consultant, and vulnerability assessment analyst.

The PenTest+ exam is graded on a scale of 100–900, with a passing score of 750. Each question is weighted differently, with performance-based questions typically carrying more weight than multiple-choice questions.

CompTIA PenTest+ is ideal for roles such as penetration tester, vulnerability assessment analyst, and security consultant. It is also recognized for U.S. Department of Defense Directive 8140.03M work roles, including exploitation analyst and cyber defense forensics analyst.