- The Number That Matters: 70%
- What 70% Actually Means on 100 Questions
- Exam Format and Delivery Through the Mile2 LMS
- What Mile2 Has Not Published
- Where Your 70 Points Come From: The Seven Modules
- Attempts, Fees, and What a Score Costs You
- A Module-Ordered Plan to Reach 70%
- After You Pass: Renewal and the Score's Shelf Life
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The Certified Cybersecurity Analyst exam from Mile2 requires a minimum passing score of 70% on 100 multiple-choice questions.
- Seventy percent of 100 questions means at least 70 correct answers, so you can miss up to 30.
- The exam runs approximately 2 hours and is delivered online through the Mile2 LMS.
- The seven modules are unweighted site categories, so balanced coverage beats betting on one module.
The Number That Matters: 70%
If you are preparing for the Certified Cybersecurity Analyst credential from Mile2, the passing standard is refreshingly simple: a minimum passing score of 70%. The exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions and runs approximately 2 hours. That is the core of what you need to know, and everything else in this article is about turning that single number into a practical target.
It is worth stating plainly because many cybersecurity credentials use scaled scoring, where raw answers are converted to a number on an arbitrary range and the cut score is not obvious. Here, Mile2 publishes a straightforward percentage. A candidate who understands that 70% is the line can plan backward from it instead of guessing at a hidden threshold.
This article focuses on this specific credential, the Mile2 Certified Cybersecurity Analyst. If you want a broader orientation first, our overview pieces such as What Is C)CSA Certification? and C)CSA Meaning explain what the credential covers and how to tell it apart from other certifications that share a similar acronym.
What 70% Actually Means on 100 Questions
With 100 questions and a 70% minimum, the arithmetic is direct: you need at least 70 correct answers, which means you can afford to miss up to 30. That margin sounds comfortable until you consider how the questions are drawn from seven distinct subject areas, several of which are technical and hands-on in nature.
| Item | What Is Published |
|---|---|
| Total questions | 100 multiple-choice |
| Minimum passing score | 70% |
| Correct answers needed | 70 (if all questions count equally) |
| Maximum misses allowed | 30 |
| Approximate duration | 2 hours |
| Approximate pace | About 72 seconds per question |
At roughly 72 seconds per question, you will not have long to deliberate over any single item. Scenario-style questions that ask you to interpret a log excerpt, a packet capture summary, or a forensic finding will eat more time than definition recall, so your pacing plan should account for the mix.
Exam Format and Delivery Through the Mile2 LMS
This exam is delivered online through the Mile2 learning management system, not through a third-party testing network. The documented technical requirements are a current version of Chrome and a reliable internet connection. Both matter more than candidates tend to assume: a dropped connection or an outdated browser during a two-hour exam is an avoidable way to lose an attempt.
The question format is multiple choice, which tends to reward candidates who can eliminate distractors by reasoning about how a tool or process actually behaves. For an analyst-level credential, expect the stems to describe a situation, such as an alert pattern, a suspicious artifact, or a defensive gap, and ask what a competent blue team member would conclude or do next.
What Mile2 Has Not Published
An honest passing-score article has to separate what is confirmed from what is not. The 70% minimum, the 100-question count, and the approximately 2-hour duration are documented. Several other details are not verifiable from the public outline, and you should not rely on forum claims to fill the gaps.
- Exam version dating: The current public outline is undated, and there is no confirmed 2026 exam version. If you see a claim that the exam changed in a specific month, treat it skeptically until Mile2 confirms it.
- Scoring detail: There is no published statement about unscored items, partial credit, or whether the exam is adaptive.
- Per-module weighting: The seven modules function as unweighted categories on this site. They are official course modules, not verified weighted exam domains, so there is no percentage breakdown to memorize.
- Pass rates: Mile2 does not publish a verified pass rate that I can cite. Our discussion in C)CSA Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows explains how to think about this without inventing figures.
The practical takeaway is that your preparation should not hinge on rumors about weighting. Since no module is officially weighted above the others, the safest path to 70% is competence across all seven.
Where Your 70 Points Come From: The Seven Modules
The credential's seven course modules are the best map of what the questions can touch. Below is what a candidate should be able to do in each, framed around the reality that you need roughly seven of every ten answers right overall. For deeper treatment of each area, see C)CSA Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 7 Content Areas.
Domain 1: Blue Team Principles
The defensive mindset underpins everything else. Expect questions about how a defending team is organized, what it monitors, and how it prioritizes response.
- Defensive roles, responsibilities, and how detection and response fit together
- The relationship between prevention, detection, and recovery
- How analysts decide what deserves escalation
Domain 2: Digital Forensics
Forensics questions reward careful thinking about evidence handling and what artifacts can and cannot prove.
- Preserving evidence and maintaining a defensible chain of custody
- Identifying useful artifacts on endpoints and in memory or disk images
- Reconstructing a timeline from fragmentary evidence
Domain 3: Malware Analysis
Analyst-level malware questions focus on recognizing behavior and drawing defensive conclusions rather than writing code.
- Distinguishing static from dynamic analysis approaches
- Recognizing persistence, propagation, and command-and-control behavior
- Turning analysis findings into indicators defenders can use
Domain 4: Traffic Analysis
Reading network evidence is a core analyst skill, and scenario questions often describe captured traffic and ask you to interpret it.
- Recognizing normal versus anomalous protocol behavior
- Spotting reconnaissance, exfiltration, and beaconing patterns
- Understanding what packet and flow data reveal about an incident
Domain 5: Assessing the Current State of Defense within an Organization
This module is about measuring how well an organization is actually defended, not just listing its controls.
- Evaluating control effectiveness and identifying gaps
- Using assessment findings to prioritize improvements
- Communicating defensive posture to non-technical stakeholders
Domain 6: Leveraging SIEM for Advances Analytics
The module title appears in the course summary list with the spelling "Advances Analytics," which differs from a detailed heading elsewhere in the course material, so do not be thrown if you see both forms.
- Log collection, normalization, and correlation concepts
- Writing and tuning detections to reduce noise
- Using SIEM data to support investigation and threat hunting
Domain 7: Defeating the Red Team with Purple Team Tactics
Purple teaming ties offense and defense together, and questions here often ask how a defender should respond to a given attacker technique.
- How red team findings translate into improved detections
- Collaborative exercises that validate defensive controls
- Mapping adversary behavior to defensive coverage
Key Takeaway
Because no module is officially weighted, a lopsided strategy is risky. A candidate who is excellent at SIEM and traffic analysis but weak on forensics and purple team tactics can still fall short of 70 correct. Aim for dependable competence in all seven rather than mastery of a few.
Attempts, Fees, and What a Score Costs You
The documented US price is the Exam Combo at USD $550. This is a combo price, not a verified exam-only fee: it includes preparation and simulator components and, under the general combo policy, two attempts. That detail changes how you should think about the passing score. A single failed attempt is not necessarily a financial reset, but you should confirm the exact retake terms that apply to your purchase before relying on them.
For a full breakdown of what is and is not included, see C)CSA Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. If you are weighing whether the investment makes sense for your goals, Is the C)CSA Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 covers that decision.
On eligibility, no mandatory Mile2 course, degree, experience-hour, or reference requirement is verified. Mile2 suggests prior knowledge in security, forensics, incident handling, and testing, which is advice rather than a gate. Our C)CSA Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify article walks through what that means in practice.
A Module-Ordered Plan to Reach 70%
Rather than a generic schedule, order your preparation by how the modules build on each other. Defensive principles and forensics give you vocabulary and evidence logic; malware and traffic analysis supply the technical artifacts; the final three modules ask you to integrate everything. A sensible four-week structure looks like this:
Foundations: Blue Team Principles and Digital Forensics
- Lock down defensive roles and the detect-respond-recover cycle first, since later modules assume it
- Practice evidence handling and timeline reconstruction questions
Technical Artifacts: Malware Analysis and Traffic Analysis
- Work through static versus dynamic reasoning and behavior recognition
- Drill packet and flow interpretation until anomalous patterns jump out
Integration: Defensive Assessment and SIEM
- Practice judging control effectiveness and prioritizing gaps
- Review correlation logic, detection tuning, and investigation workflows
Synthesis: Purple Team Tactics and Full-Length Practice
- Connect attacker techniques to detections and defensive validation
- Take timed 100-question practice runs and review every miss by module
The timed runs in the final week matter because pacing is the hidden variable. Practicing at about 72 seconds per question teaches you when to flag a hard item and move on. For a fuller resource list and sequencing advice, our C)CSA Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt goes deeper, and you can calibrate your readiness against realistic questions on the C)CSA practice test site.
When you review practice results, track your score per module, not just your overall percentage. An overall 72% that hides a 45% in one module is fragile, because the real exam may draw more heavily from that area than your practice set did. If you want a sense of where candidates tend to struggle, How Hard Is the C)CSA Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 is a useful companion.
After You Pass: Renewal and the Score's Shelf Life
Passing at 70% or above earns the credential, but it is not permanent. The renewal cycle is three years. Mile2's central policy offers two routes: 60 documented CEUs over the three years, or taking the latest exam, along with the applicable fee and agreement to professional policy. One caution here is that the course PDF uses wording that conflicts on whether it describes both routes together, so confirm the exact requirement directly with Mile2 when your renewal window approaches.
That ongoing obligation is one reason to learn the material properly rather than cramming to the threshold. The skills in these modules, such as log analysis, forensic reasoning, and purple team collaboration, are what employers in security operations and incident response actually look for. To see how the credential maps to roles, read C)CSA Jobs. On compensation, be careful: the salary figure that appears in promotional brochure material should not be treated as current earnings for certification holders. Our C)CSA Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis explains how to approach pay expectations without leaning on unverified numbers.
If you are still deciding on a testing window, C)CSA Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling covers what is known about scheduling through the Mile2 LMS, and C)CSA Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts is a handy last-day refresher.
Frequently Asked Questions
The minimum passing score is 70%. The exam has 100 multiple-choice questions, so reaching 70 correct answers is the working target, assuming every question counts equally. Mile2 does not publish further scoring detail, so aim comfortably above that line.
On a 100-question exam with a 70% minimum, you can miss up to 30 questions if all items are scored equally. Because I cannot verify whether any items are unscored or weighted differently, treat 30 as an upper bound rather than a guarantee.
The exam runs approximately 2 hours and is delivered online through the Mile2 LMS using a current version of Chrome and a reliable internet connection. That works out to roughly 72 seconds per question, so practice with a timer.
No weighting is verified. The seven entries are official course modules used as unweighted categories on this site, not confirmed weighted exam domains. Prepare for all seven rather than concentrating on a favorite.
The US Exam Combo at USD $550 includes two attempts under the general combo policy, so a first miss does not necessarily end your chances. Confirm the exact retake terms for your specific purchase with Mile2 before you test.