CompTIA SecAI+ (exam code CY0-001) is CompTIA's first certification specifically built around the intersection of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. It addresses a real and growing skills gap: SOC analysts, GRC professionals, and engineers are now expected to defend AI systems, use AI tools in security operations, and assess third-party AI risk — without any single accepted credential to validate those skills.
This guide explains what SecAI+ tests, who should take it, and how it fits alongside Security+, CySA+, and ISACA's AAISM.
What is SecAI+?
SecAI+ is an intermediate-level, vendor-neutral cert focused on the security implications of AI and ML systems. It assumes you already understand fundamental cybersecurity concepts (Security+ level) and introduces:
- How to use generative AI and ML tools inside a SOC for triage, summarisation, and detection engineering
- How to attack AI systems (adversarial ML, prompt injection, model extraction)
- How to defend AI systems (input validation, output filtering, model monitoring, RAG isolation)
- Governance and risk frameworks for AI (NIST AI RMF, ISO/IEC 42001, EU AI Act)
- Privacy, data minimisation, and supply chain risk for AI models and datasets
Exam At a Glance
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Exam code | CY0-001 |
| Voucher cost (USD) | $404 |
| Format | Multiple choice + performance-based |
| Number of questions | Up to 85 |
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Recommended prior cert | Security+ (not enforced) |
| Validity | 3 years |
Exam Domains
| Domain | Approx weight |
|---|---|
| 1. AI Threats & Attacks | 22% |
| 2. Securing AI Systems & Pipelines | 24% |
| 3. AI in Security Operations | 20% |
| 4. AI Governance, Risk & Compliance | 18% |
| 5. Data Privacy & Model Lifecycle Security | 16% |
Who Should Take SecAI+?
- SOC analysts whose teams are adopting AI-driven triage, alert summarisation, or LLM-based playbooks
- GRC and risk professionals assessing third-party AI tools, model risk, or EU AI Act compliance
- Security engineers integrating model-serving infrastructure (SageMaker, Vertex AI, Bedrock, Azure OpenAI) into existing security architectures
- Cloud architects designing defensible RAG pipelines and AI guardrails
- Pen testers who want a vendor-neutral validation of adversarial ML knowledge
What SecAI+ Covers in Depth
1. AI-Specific Attack Vectors
- Prompt injection (direct & indirect)
- Training-data poisoning
- Model inversion and membership inference
- Model extraction / theft
- Evasion attacks against ML classifiers
- Supply chain attacks on open-weights models and datasets
2. Defensive Architecture
- Input/output filtering and content moderation
- Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) isolation patterns
- System prompt hardening
- Rate limiting, authentication, and abuse detection on model endpoints
- Model monitoring for drift and adversarial behaviour
3. AI in the SOC
- Using LLMs for alert triage and false-positive reduction
- Detection engineering with synthetic data
- Auto-summarisation of incident timelines
- Risks of LLM-generated false negatives and hallucinated IoCs
4. Governance & Regulation
- NIST AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0)
- ISO/IEC 42001 (AI Management Systems)
- EU AI Act risk tiers (prohibited / high-risk / limited-risk / minimal)
- OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications
- Model cards, system cards, and AI bill of materials (AI-BOM)
SecAI+ vs Alternatives
| Cert | Vendor | Focus | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| SecAI+ (CY0-001) | CompTIA | Practitioner: attack/defend AI systems | $404 |
| ISACA AAISM | ISACA | Manager: AI security governance | $575 member / $760 non-member |
| (ISC)² CAISP | (ISC)² | Practitioner: secure AI implementation | $599 |
| AWS AI Practitioner (AIF-C01) | AWS | Generic AI literacy, not security-focused | $100 |
| Microsoft AI-102 | Microsoft | Building Azure AI solutions, not security-focused | $165 |
SecAI+ is the most practitioner-oriented, vendor-neutral choice. If you're a senior leader or auditor, ISACA's AAISM may better fit your role.
Study Plan (10–14 Weeks)
| Week(s) | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1–2 | AI fundamentals (LLMs, embeddings, RAG, supervised vs unsupervised) |
| 3–4 | OWASP LLM Top 10 + MITRE ATLAS framework deep dive |
| 5–6 | Defensive patterns: guardrails, content filters, RAG isolation |
| 7–8 | NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, EU AI Act |
| 9–10 | Hands-on labs: prompt injection POCs, adversarial example generation |
| 11–12 | Practice questions, performance-based simulations |
| 13–14 | Final review and exam |
Recommended Resources
- OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications — free, foundational
- MITRE ATLAS — adversarial threat landscape for AI systems
- NIST AI 100-1 (AI Risk Management Framework)
- Microsoft Responsible AI Standard v2
- Anthropic's Constitutional AI papers for understanding guardrail design
- CompTIA's official CertMaster Learn for SecAI+
Verdict
SecAI+ fills a real gap. Through 2026, expect job descriptions for SOC engineers, AppSec engineers, and cloud security architects to start listing "experience with LLM security" or "familiarity with OWASP LLM Top 10." SecAI+ is the first credential that signals that knowledge in a structured, recognisable way.
If you're already Security+ certified and your organisation is deploying AI tooling — or you're moving into a cloud security or AppSec role — SecAI+ is a strong addition to your CompTIA stack. Take it after Security+ but before or alongside CySA+ for the most coherent learning arc.