I've been in the tech business for 13 years, most of those working for major telecom companies as a contractor, and a geek since the 80's. The past 2 years have been corporate IT. This is my 4th test and 3rd certification this month (A+ IT Tech, Net+ '09, and this one)
I know that difficulty is subjective, but I found the test to be only slightly more difficult than the Network+ 2009 edition, which I found to be very easy. Anyone with a fair amount of network experience should be able to pass this test without issue. Questions are fairly evenly divided between basic cryptography, Network/Host hardening, Intrusion Detection, and Security Policy and Procedure, with a little bit of authentication sprinkled in there.
The questions were mostly standard questions that tested knowledge of the terminology used, with a few scenarios that were fairly straight forward. There were one or two questions that were poorly worded, but I've found that on the other CompTIA tests I took as well.
What's really important is to have an understanding of the terminology used. You don't need any really deep knowledge about the topics, just a general knowledge. Though a basic working knowledge of systems and network security will make this test a breeze.
I think I spent 30 minutes on the 100 questions and walked out with an 835 having done about 16 hours of preparation. 8 hours was spent watching video that gave me a basic overview of the material I needed to know (from the training center I'm using), 1 hour spent browsing through this book:
elementk.com - Search Results
...and 7 hours or so taking the SYO-101 practice exam from Exam Worx. The practice exam is highly configurable, and offers practice and virtual exams. As a rule, I want to see very consistent high 90's out of 100 questions before I feel I'm ready to take an exam using these.
To summarize, I didn't find this exam terribly difficult, though I have a lot of experience. I used an SYO-101 sample test to prep. The most important thing to understand is the terminology, there are only a few scenarios in the test and they were pretty straight forward.
Good luck to those of you aspiring for this certification, I hope my information is helpful.
