CompTIA CySA+ is the intermediate cybersecurity analyst certification, sitting between Security+ and CASP+. The exam emphasizes threat detection, log analysis, and incident response—skills that map to SOC analyst roles. Jason Dion's CySA+ course is the dominant Udemy option for this cert, with Mike Chapple's Sybex book as the dominant text companion. This page reviews Dion's CySA+ course specifically: coverage depth, practice exam quality, and whether candidates can pass with Dion alone.
Jason Dion's CySA+ course is the most widely recommended CySA+ prep on Udemy and is sufficient to pass for candidates with Security+ knowledge or 1-2 years of SOC/security experience. Complete beginners to security operations should add a book (Mike Chapple's Sybex CySA+ guide) or Professor Messer's free CySA+ videos. The course's strength is its hands-on tool walkthroughs (Wireshark, SIEM); its weakness is depth on incident response procedures.
What Dion's CySA+ Course Covers
Dion's CySA+ course runs ~15 hours of lecture across the four exam domains: Security Operations, Vulnerability Management, Incident Response & Management, and Reporting & Communication. The course includes 6 practice exams, downloadable notes, and tool walkthroughs for Wireshark, Splunk, and basic SIEM workflows. The lectures spend significant time on log analysis pattern recognition—reading SIEM alerts and identifying which are true positives. This is the strongest section and the part most aligned with the real exam's scenario-based questions.
Where Dion's CySA+ Course Falls Short
Two areas need supplementing. First, incident response procedural depth: Dion covers the NIST 800-61 framework but skims procedural detail (chain of custody, evidence preservation steps, post-incident review structure). The Sybex book by Mike Chapple covers these procedures in dramatically more depth, and they appear frequently on the real exam. Second, vulnerability management tooling: Dion covers Nessus and OpenVAS conceptually but doesn't walk through interpreting actual scan output in depth. Free TryHackMe rooms (specifically "Nessus" and "Vulnversity") fill this gap.
Who Should Use Dion CySA+ Alone vs Supplement
Dion alone is sufficient for: candidates with Security+ within the last 12 months, candidates with 1-2 years of SOC or junior security analyst experience, and candidates who plan to use the CySA+ as a stepping stone to PenTest+ or CASP+ rather than directly applying for SOC roles. Supplement Dion with Sybex if: you've been out of security for 2+ years, you don't have Security+ recently, or you're studying CySA+ specifically to land a SOC analyst role (the book's incident response depth is interview-relevant).
Pro Tips
Take CySA+ within 12 months of passing Security+—Dion assumes Security+ knowledge.
Supplement Dion with TryHackMe's free SOC Level 1 rooms for hands-on practice.
Read NIST 800-61 directly (free PDF) for incident response procedural depth.
Practice reading Splunk and Wireshark output—these appear in scenario questions.
Schedule CySA+ within 90 days of finishing Dion's course; knowledge decays fast.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Taking CySA+ without recent Security+. The knowledge gap is bigger than people expect.
Skipping the tool walkthroughs because "I already use Splunk at work." Dion's framing matches the exam's.
Buying Dion's standalone CySA+ practice exam pack on top of his course—the 6 in the course are sufficient.
Ignoring Professor Messer's free CySA+ videos as a second-explanation source for weak topics.
Treating CySA+ as easy because it's "just analyst stuff." It's a tough exam with very specific framing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes for candidates with recent Security+ or 1-2 years SOC experience. Complete beginners to security operations should add Mike Chapple's Sybex CySA+ book.
CySA+ goes deeper on threat detection, log analysis, and incident response. Dion's lecture style is similar but the technical depth and tool focus are noticeably higher.
Strongly recommended. CompTIA doesn't require it, but Dion's CySA+ course assumes Security+ baseline knowledge. Without Security+ within 12 months, expect to study an additional 2-3 weeks.
Yes, calibrated 5-10 points harder, consistent with his other practice exams. 80% on Dion CySA+ predicts comfortable pass on the real exam.
He covers the NIST 800-61 framework but skims procedural detail. For full procedural depth, read NIST 800-61 directly (free PDF) or use Mike Chapple's Sybex book.
Plan 6-8 weeks at 10 hours/week. The lecture length is shorter than Security+ but the material density and tool focus is higher.
Related Resources
Jason Dion Honest Review Jason Dion Practice Exams Jason Dion vs Professor Messer Professor Messer CySA+ Alternative Jason Dion PenTest+ Review Free CySA+ PracticePractice for 25+ Certifications—Free
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