What Is CompTIA SecAI+? The AI Security Certification Explained (2026)
CompTIA SecAI+ (CY0-001) launched February 2026: 60 questions, 60 minutes, 600/900 to pass, $359. Who it's for, the four domains, and how to prepare.
Builder of SecuSpark. 24 shipped projects across healthcare, defense, and education. Built this platform because textbooks never worked for my ADHD brain — so I turned exam prep into an RPG. @PawelBuilds
Table of Contents
CompTIA SecAI+ (exam code CY0-001) is the first major vendor-neutral certification dedicated to the intersection of AI and cybersecurity — securing AI systems, using AI in security operations, and governing both. CompTIA launched it on February 17, 2026, and because it is brand new, holding it puts you in a small, very visible group. Here is exactly what the exam covers, who should take it, and how to prepare without overspending.
SecAI+ Exam Facts (CY0-001)
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Exam code | CY0-001 |
| Launched | February 17, 2026 |
| Questions | Maximum of 60 (multiple-choice + performance-based) |
| Time limit | 60 minutes |
| Passing score | 600 on a 100–900 scale |
| Voucher price | $359 (notably, CompTIA priced it BELOW the $439 Security+/CySA+ tier) |
| Recommended experience | 3–4 years in IT, 2+ years hands-on cybersecurity; Security+, CySA+, or PenTest+ recommended first |
Exam details per CompTIA's official SecAI+ page, verified July 2026. One minute per question with PBQs in the mix makes pacing the exam's hidden difficulty.
The Four SecAI+ Domains
- Basic AI concepts related to cybersecurity (17%) — models, training data, inference, and the terminology the rest of the exam builds on.
- Securing AI systems (40%) — the heart of the exam: protecting models, training pipelines, and data against adversarial ML, poisoning, prompt injection, and model theft.
- AI-assisted security (24%) — using AI for threat detection, triage, and security operations without letting it hallucinate your incident response.
- AI governance, risk, and compliance (19%) — policy, risk frameworks, and the regulatory landscape around AI deployment.
Who Should Take SecAI+?
SecAI+ is a practitioner add-on, not an entry ticket. CompTIA recommends 2+ years of hands-on security work first, and the domain split shows why: 40% of the exam assumes you already think like a security engineer and layers AI-specific threats on top. If you are new to the field, start with Security+ — the full comparison lives in our SecAI+ vs Security+ breakdown. If you already hold Security+ or CySA+ and your org is deploying AI anywhere near production, SecAI+ is the fastest way to make that expertise legible. If your job is building on Claude rather than securing AI systems in general, Anthropic runs its own Claude certifications.
How to Prepare (Without Overspending)
The exam is new enough that prep materials are scarce — which is exactly why practice questions matter more than usual. SecuSpark's SecAI+ path has 550 exam-style questions across 25 practice exams, mapped to all four CY0-001 domains, with 3 full exams free. Start on the free SecAI+ practice test, find your weakest domain, and drill it — at 60 questions in 60 minutes, you cannot afford slow recall on the 40% securing-AI-systems block.
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