The exam
CCST Cybersecurity is Cisco's entry-level security certification, aimed at the technician or student meeting security as a job for the first time. The 100-160 exam runs 50 minutes across five domains. Essential security principles covers the CIA triad, defense-in-depth and hardening, common threats from malware and ransomware to phishing and on-path attacks, access management with AAA, RADIUS and multifactor authentication, and encryption, hashing, certificates and PKI. Basic network security concepts covers TCP/IP protocol weaknesses and their mitigations, addressing and segmentation, DMZ, virtualization, cloud, honeypot, proxy and IDS/IPS infrastructure, securing a small-office wireless network, and ACLs, firewalls, VPNs and network access control. Endpoint security covers Windows, macOS and Linux security features and file permissions, netstat, nslookup and tcpdump, hardware and software inventory, backups, regulatory compliance and BYOD, patching of software, drivers and firmware, log interpretation, and malware removal. Vulnerability assessment and risk management covers the vulnerability lifecycle, passive and active reconnaissance and port scanning, CVE and threat intelligence, risk ranking and data classification, and disaster recovery and business continuity planning. Incident handling covers SIEM and SOAR monitoring and when to escalate, digital forensics with the Cyber Kill Chain, MITRE ATT&CK and the Diamond Model, evidence handling and chain of custody, the notification duties GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, FERPA and FISMA impose, and the NIST SP 800-61 incident response lifecycle. Throughout, the emphasis is recognition and correct terminology rather than analysis: name the threat, name the control, know the first action, and know when to hand the incident on.
Who it is for
Aimed at people with under a year of security experience — secondary and post-secondary students, interns, help desk and junior IT staff, and career changers taking their first security certification. Cisco describes the successful candidate as a work-ready cybersecurity technician with at least 150 hours of instruction and hands-on experience, and sets no formal prerequisite. Candidates are expected to be comfortable using Windows, macOS or Linux as a user, to know what an IP address and a subnet mask are, and to have run basic commands at a terminal — but not to have configured a firewall, tuned a SIEM, or handled a real breach. Cisco names CyberOps (CBROPS 200-201) as the next step in the pathway, which takes the same subject matter into analyst depth; CompTIA Security+ covers comparable ground a level higher and is the usual alternative first security certification.
What it covers
Your readiness map in the app is organised the same way, so what you see here is exactly what you study against.
What Preppio gives you
Across every domain above, in 5 formats: concept, scenario, ordering, multi-select, matching. Each one explains why the right answer is right and every distractor wrong.
Per domain, whether you are ready, weak, or not started — the same domains and weights as the exam itself.
Your study partner. He tracks where you are weak and drills exactly that, instead of serving you what you already know.
Try one
Answer on the page. The explanation appears when you submit; use Next to move through the formats.
Sample 1 · Concept
A user on a Windows laptop needs a specific line-of-business application to accept inbound connections while connected to the office network, but the laptop also connects to public Wi-Fi during travel. What should a technician configure?
Pick one, then submit.
Study links
FAQ
45 questions in 50 minutes.
80%, a scaled score of 800.
5 domains, weighted as the exam weights them: Essential Security Principles (18%), Basic Network Security Concepts (22%), Endpoint Security Concepts (26%), Vulnerability Assessment and Risk Management (17%) and Incident Handling (17%). Your readiness map in the app is organised by the same domains, so what you study against is what the exam tests.
Five formats: concept, scenario, ordering, multi-select and matching. The practice questions use every one of them, and the sample on this page shows one of each.
100-160 is on the Single, Dual and All Access plans. You start on the free tier and add it from the plan picker inside the app. Three fundamentals exams (AZ-900, CLF-C02 and CDL) are always free, and the sample on this page is free to try.
Every question is generated from the exam's published objectives, then checked for accuracy, answer key and explanation before it is served. Nothing is copied from any exam, questions rotate by how often they have been seen, and they are retired when the objectives change.
