Around 400,000 people take CompTIA Security+ every year, and a significant share of them use the same free resource to prepare: Professor Messer's Security+ video course. It's been that way for over a decade. If you've searched "professor messer security+" you already know he's the name that keeps coming up in every Reddit thread, Discord server, and study group. This guide covers exactly what he offers, how it fits into a full study plan, what the SY0-701 exam actually tests, and what the cert is realistically worth on the job market.
Who Is Professor Messer and Why Does Everyone Use His Professor Messer Security+ Materials?
James "Professor Messer" Messer has been publishing free CompTIA study videos since 2008. He is not affiliated with CompTIA — he's an independent instructor whose entire business model runs on free video content supported by paid supplementary materials. His Security+ course covers every exam objective in the SY0-701 blueprint, broken into short videos (typically 5–15 minutes each) organized by domain.
The reason his name dominates Security+ study discussions is straightforward: the videos are free, comprehensive, and updated to match the current exam version. There's no paywall, no trial, no account required. You can watch the full course on YouTube or through his website at your own pace.
His paid materials — study notes (PDF) and practice exams — are priced modestly (typically under $50 combined). Most candidates use a combination of free videos plus at least one paid practice exam bundle. The practice exams are where he makes most of his revenue, and they're considered some of the better third-party options for SY0-701.
What's Actually in the Professor Messer Security+ Course
The free course covers all five domains of the SY0-701 exam blueprint:
- General Security Concepts (12%) — cryptography fundamentals, authentication types, security controls
- Threats, Vulnerabilities, and Mitigations (22%) — malware categories, social engineering, application and network-based attacks
- Security Architecture (18%) — cloud security models, network segmentation, infrastructure considerations
- Security Operations (28%) — identity and access management, endpoint security, incident response
- Security Program Management and Oversight (20%) — risk management, compliance frameworks, data privacy regulations
Each video corresponds to a specific exam objective. Professor Messer also publishes "show notes" — free PDFs that outline what's covered in each video — which work as a lightweight substitute for the paid study guide.
Free vs. Paid Materials
The free tier is more complete than most paid courses from other providers. What you get without spending anything: the full video course, show notes for every video, and study group recordings (live sessions he's done where he walks through topics with questions from viewers).
The paid tier adds: formatted study notes in a single PDF (useful for offline review and for building a reference document), and practice exams. The practice exams are the higher-value purchase — Security+ has a notoriously different question style from most certification exams, with heavy use of scenario-based and "best answer" questions rather than straightforward recall. Getting comfortable with that format before exam day matters.
The SY0-701 Exam: What Professor Messer Security+ Prepares You For
CompTIA released SY0-701 in November 2023. The previous version (SY0-601) retired in July 2024, so if you're studying now, SY0-701 is the only option. The exams are similar in structure but SY0-701 updates the content to reflect the current threat landscape — more cloud security coverage, updated cryptographic standards, and revised terminology aligned with NIST frameworks.
Exam format: up to 90 questions, 90 minutes, maximum score of 900, passing score of 750. Question types include multiple choice, drag-and-drop, and performance-based questions (simulations where you configure a firewall rule, read a log, or identify a vulnerability in a network diagram).
Performance-based questions (PBQs) are where most unprepared candidates lose points. They appear at the start of the exam and take disproportionate time. Professor Messer's course doesn't include interactive simulations, which is its main limitation — you'll want to supplement with a tool like CompTIA's CertMaster Labs or Darril Gibson's practice materials if PBQs worry you.
Prerequisites and Study Time
CompTIA recommends Network+ and two years of security-focused IT experience before attempting Security+. In practice, many people pass without this background, particularly if they're already working in IT support or administration. The recommended study time varies widely: 60–100 hours is a common range for someone with relevant work experience; 150+ hours for someone coming in with minimal IT background.
A realistic study plan using Professor Messer's materials: watch the video series once through (roughly 25–30 hours of video), review the show notes or study guide, then spend the remaining study time on practice questions. You want to score consistently above 85% on practice exams before sitting for the real thing, since the actual exam tends to feel harder than most third-party practice materials.
Career ROI: What Security+ Actually Gets You
CompTIA Security+ is DoD 8570 approved, which means it's required for certain US Department of Defense IT roles. This is a hard requirement, not a preference — federal contractors and military IT positions frequently list it as a gating credential. Outside the federal sector, it's a recognized baseline that signals foundational security competence.
Salary data from job postings that explicitly require Security+:
- Security Analyst I: $55,000–$75,000 (entry-level, often requires Security+ as a minimum)
- IT Security Specialist: $65,000–$90,000
- Systems Administrator (security-focused): $60,000–$85,000
- Network Security Engineer (junior): $70,000–$95,000
Security+ is most valuable as an entry credential, not a career-long differentiator. Once you're two or three years into a security role, hiring managers care more about hands-on experience and higher-level certifications (CISSP, CEH, OSCP for offensive roles). The cert gets you past resume screening; it doesn't close senior-level offers.
The strongest ROI case for Security+: if you're currently in general IT (help desk, sysadmin, networking) and want to move into a security-focused role, the cert signals intent and demonstrates baseline knowledge. Combined with a homelab, a few CTF completions, or a cloud security project, it's a credible pivot story.
Top Courses to Complement Your Studies
Professor Messer's Security+ course handles exam prep well, but broader professional development often requires learning adjacent skills. These courses address related areas of study and professional communication:
Photoshop Professor Notes - Volumes 1–5
Uses the same "professor notes" format that makes structured self-study efficient — dense, objective-by-objective coverage without padding. If you respond well to that learning style, this demonstrates the format at its best in a different technical domain.
Innovation That Works with Professor Jagdish Sheth
For security professionals who want to move into advisory or leadership roles, understanding how organizations evaluate and adopt new technologies is directly applicable to security program management — one of the SY0-701 domains.
How to Write Emails and Engage Professors
Practical communication skills for anyone working through self-directed learning or reaching out to instructors and mentors during their certification journey — a genuinely underrated part of self-study.
Customer Centricity with Professor Jagdish Sheth
Security awareness programs live or die by how well security teams communicate risk to non-technical stakeholders. This course addresses the underlying frameworks for making that communication effective.
FAQ
Is Professor Messer's Security+ course enough to pass on its own?
For most people with some IT background, yes — but only if you supplement the free videos with serious practice exam work. The videos cover the content; the practice exams train you on question style, which is genuinely different from most other certs. People who fail Security+ after studying with Professor Messer usually didn't do enough practice questions, not because the content coverage was inadequate.
How current is Professor Messer's SY0-701 content?
He updated his course for SY0-701 in late 2023 / early 2024. Check the publish dates on individual videos if you want to confirm you're watching SY0-701 content and not leftover SY0-601 material, which still appears in some search results and playlists.
What's the difference between the free show notes and the paid study guide?
Show notes are per-video outlines — good as a quick reference while watching. The paid study guide consolidates everything into a single formatted document, adds some additional explanations, and is designed for standalone reading rather than as a companion to videos. If you want a physical-style review document, the paid notes are worth it. If you're watching all the videos anyway, show notes are sufficient for many people.
Should I get Professor Messer's practice exams or use a different provider?
His practice exams are solid, but most Security+ study guides recommend using at least two different practice exam sources to avoid "teaching to the test" from any single provider's question bank. Common pairings: Professor Messer + Jason Dion (Udemy), or Professor Messer + CompTIA's own CertMaster Practice. More question exposure generally improves pass rates.
How long does it take to complete the Professor Messer Security+ video series?
The SY0-701 video series is approximately 25–30 hours of content. Most people spread this over 4–8 weeks while working full-time. Trying to compress it into less than 3 weeks typically results in poor retention.
Is Security+ worth it if I already have Network+?
Yes, particularly for the DoD 8570 requirement and for moving into security-specific roles. Network+ establishes infrastructure knowledge; Security+ establishes threat and defense context. They're genuinely complementary, and the overlap (network security topics) makes Security+ faster to prepare for if you've already done Network+.
Bottom Line
Professor Messer's Security+ course is the most cost-effective way to prepare for SY0-701. Free video content that covers every exam objective, combined with reasonably priced practice exams, puts most of what you need under $50 total. The main gaps — interactive labs for performance-based questions and hands-on tool experience — are things no video course can fully address, so supplement accordingly if PBQs worry you.
The cert itself is worth pursuing if you're at an IT generalist stage and want to specialize in security, or if a federal contracting role requires it. It's a credential that gets you in the door, not one that closes senior offers. Use it as a foundation and plan your next step (cloud security certs, CISSP, or hands-on offensive skills) before the ink dries.