About This Study Plan

This 7 days study plan breaks the CYBEROPS (CyberOps Associate) exam preparation into 7 focused study sessions with a total of 21 actionable tasks. The plan covers all 5 exam domains — Security Concepts, Security Monitoring, Host-Based Analysis, Network Intrusion Analysis, Security Policies and Procedures — ensuring complete coverage of the exam blueprint. Intensive 7-day review for the Cisco CyberOps Associate (200-201) exam. Best for candidates with SOC or security experience.

7Study Days

21Total Tasks

5Domains Covered

Prerequisites

Basic understanding of TCP/IP networking
Familiarity with security concepts and tools
5–6 hours of study time per day

Study Schedule

Day 1Security Concepts & Cryptography

Review CIA triad, attacks, vulnerabilities, threat landscape
Study symmetric vs asymmetric encryption, hashing, PKI
Take a 20-question security concepts quiz

Day 2Security Monitoring & SIEM

Review Wireshark, NetFlow, SNMP, syslog
Study SIEM correlation and alert triage
Practice packet analysis exercises

Day 3Host-Based Analysis

Review Windows and Linux forensics artifacts
Study malware types, indicators of compromise
Practice endpoint investigation scenarios

Day 4Network Intrusion Analysis

Study TCP/IP attacks, DNS attacks, web attacks
Review IDS/IPS concepts and Snort rule syntax
Analyze sample PCAP files for attacks

Day 5Incident Response & Policies

Review NIST IR lifecycle, evidence handling
Study SOC operations, kill chain, MITRE ATT&CK
Take a full practice exam

Day 6Review & Weak Areas

Review practice exam results
Focus on weak domains
Re-read cheat sheets

Day 7Final Review

Flashcard review
Take second practice exam if time allows
Rest before exam

Study Tips

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Packet analysis questions are common — practice with Wireshark.

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Know the incident response phases in the correct order.

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Memorize common ports and the protocols that use them.

Recommended Cisco Study Resources

Supplement this study plan with Cisco's official cert guides (published by Cisco Press) and free Packet Tracer labs. The Cisco Learning Network community forums are valuable for discussing exam topics with other candidates and CCIEs. Allocate at least 30% of your study time to hands-on lab practice — configuring, troubleshooting, and verifying are skills that can only be built through repetition.