An honest, cited answer. We make no ROI, salary, placement, or 'worth it' claim, and we don't track live job demand — where we don't know, we say so.
Not formally — but it helps. CompTIA lists, as recommended (not required), "CompTIA Network+ and two years of experience working in a security/systems administrator job role." There's no hard prerequisite and CompTIA doesn't gate registration, so a motivated beginner can sit Security+ — but the exam assumes basic networking knowledge (ports, protocols, the OSI model). If you're new to IT, a common honest order is foundations first (A+ or Network+, or a networking course) and Security+ alongside hands-on labs. See the Cybersecurity Analyst roadmap for a sequenced route.
What we don't know
Whether you personally need prior experience depends on your background; the 'two years' figure is CompTIA's recommendation, not a rule.