CySA+: Renewal requirements

December 13, 2023 by

Fakhar Imam

The CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) certification is valid for three years from the day the exam is passed. After that, a candidate must complete the CySA+ renewal requirements to maintain his or her certification. All renewal requirements must be completed by the expiration date to avoid your CySA+ expiration or decertification. If a candidate doesn’t follow the renewal process, their certification will expire or become inactive.

Due to advancements in information security and the introduction of new cybersecurity trends, CompTIA updates its CySA+ certification curriculum every two to three years to ensure that CySA+ certified professionals are equipped with modern behavioral analytics skills to effectively deal with Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), malware and other notorious cyberthreats.

In this article, you will learn to be mindful of the CySA+ renewal process, renewing with single or multiple activities, renewal policy and retake policy.

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What do I need to know about the CySA+ renewal process?

CompTIA has three steps for candidates to renew their CySA+ certification. Each step is elaborated below:

1. Learn about the renewal process

Students should spend some time learning the renewal process of their CySA+ certification. To this end, they must be aware of the CompTIA CE program requirements such as renewal timeframe, renewal fees, multiple renewals and CEUs requirements. These details for CySA+ certification will be covered in the next section.

2. Choose your renewal path

You can renew your CySA+ certification by using one of two distinct paths offered by CompTIA. You can either create your own set of activities to renew your CySA+ certification or complete a single activity to fulfill your renewal requirements. 

CompTIA offers several options to renew your CySA+ certification with a single activity. It includes earning a higher-level CompTIA certification, attaining a non-CompTIA IT industry certification, passing the latest release of your CySA+ exam or comparing all single activity options.

3. Submit your CEUs and renew

All completed CE activities including required documentation must be submitted to your certification account in order to earn 60 CEUs for your CySA+ certification. You must check the validity of your CEUs prior to the final submission. CompTIA’s online CEU Assessment tool helps candidates to check the validity of their earned CEUs.

How can I renew my CySA+ certification?

The CySA+ certification requires you to earn 60 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for renewal. You can earn these CEUs by completing CompTIA-approved activities. Paying Continuing Education (CE) fees is also necessary for renewal and must be paid before submitting the CEUs. 

Due dates of fees are based on your CE renewal cycle, not on the calendar year. Annual and three-year CE fees for your CySA+ certification are $50 and $150, respectively. 

How can I renew multiple CompTIA certifications?

Having multiple CompTIA certifications in addition to the CySA+ certification requires you to keep all your certifications active simply by renewing your highest-level CE credential. Doing so will automatically renew your lower-level certifications.

Passing a higher-level certification also grants a specific number of CEUs for a lower-level certification. For example, you can earn 33 CEUs for your Cloud+ certification if you have passed the CySA+ certification successfully.

CompTIA sets different levels of its certifications based on levels of technical proficiency and difficulty. Based on these levels, you will set your higher-level certification as your “intent level.” When you log in to your certification account, you will be asked to select your “intent level.” If you set your CySA+ certification as your “intent level” certification, your lower-level certification, (in this case, Cloud+) will automatically renew.

In the above example, your Cloud+ certification must not expire first. Otherwise, you are required to fulfill your renewal requirements by the earliest expiration date.

Which multiple activities qualify for CySA+ CEUs? Multiple activities for your CySA+ certification can include attending a conference, attending a live webinar, completing a training course, completing a college course, earning additional CompTIA certifications, attaining non-CompTIA IT industry certifications, creating instructional materials, completing an American Council on Education course or participating in exam development workshop, as well as publishing a book, article, whitepaper or blog post. In addition, teaching or mentoring and having work experience can contribute to multiple renewal activities.

What do I need to know about the CySA+ renewal policy?

The international body — namely the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) — standardizes the procedures for personnel certification bodies and requires them to update their certification periodically. Since this renewal policy is also applicable to CompTIA certifications, candidates are required to renew their CySA+ certification every three years. Renewal policy help students to keep their CySA+ certification up to date.

What happens if my CySA+ certification expires?

If you do not renew your CySA+ certification on time it will expire, and you will have to retake the exam. To this end, you need to comply with the CompTIA retake policy. 

According to this policy, failing the first attempt of CompTIA CySA+ exam requires the candidate to apply for the second attempt immediately. CompTIA doesn’t require a waiting period between the first and the second attempt to pass this exam. However, that will not be the case if a candidate fails a third attempt or any other subsequent attempt. Because of this rule, they will have to wait 14 calendar days from the date of their last attempt to pass a CySA+ exam.

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The bottom line

The CompTIA CySA+ certification is good for three years. After that, you will have to renew your certification to keep your knowledge current and make it valid for another three years. 

The CompTIA CE program offers various activities to earn CEUs to fulfill renewal requirements. If your CySA+ certification expires, you will have to retake the exam via the requirements of CompTIA’s retake policy.

For more on CySA+, visit the Infosec CySA+ hub and watch our webinar, CompTIA CySA+ certification (CS0-003) changes: Everything you need to know.