MS-102 Manage security and threats by using Microsoft Defender XDR Practice Test 2 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A security analyst needs to create a custom detection rule in Microsoft Defender XDR that triggers when a user's device establishes a network connection to a known malicious IP address on a port commonly used by a specific malware. The rule must also include process information such as the filename of the process that initiated the connection. Which advanced hunting table should be the primary data source for this rule?

Accepted Answer

DeviceNetworkEvents. The DeviceNetworkEvents table in Microsoft Defender XDR captures network connection events, including source and destination IP addresses, ports, and the initiating process's filename and ID. This makes it the ideal primary data source for a custom detection rule that must trigger on a specific malicious IP and port combination while also providing process information.

Answer

DeviceProcessEvents

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DeviceFileEvents

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IdentityLogonEvents

Question 2

A security analyst needs to search for devices that have been communicating with a known malicious command-and-control server over the past 7 days. The analyst wants to identify the process that initiated the connection. Which advanced hunting query would be most efficient?

Accepted Answer

DeviceNetworkEvents | where RemoteIP == 'malicious IP' and Timestamp > ago(7d) | project DeviceName, InitiatingProcessFileName, Timestamp. Option A is correct because DeviceNetworkEvents contains network connection data including the remote IP and the initiating process details. Filtering by RemoteIP and Timestamp directly retrieves the required information without unnecessary joins or subqueries, making it the most efficient query for identifying the process that initiated the connection to a known malicious C2 server.

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DeviceProcessEvents | where ProcessId in (select ProcessId from DeviceNetworkEvents where RemoteIP == 'malicious IP' and Timestamp > ago(7d)) | project DeviceName, ProcessFileName, Timestamp

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DeviceNetworkEvents | where Timestamp > ago(7d) | join DeviceProcessEvents on ProcessId | where RemoteIP == 'malicious IP' | project DeviceName, ProcessFileName, Timestamp

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IdentityLogonEvents | where IPAddress == 'malicious IP' | project DeviceName, Timestamp

Question 3

A security analyst identifies a malicious file hash on one endpoint. They need to ensure that file is blocked from executing on all other endpoints in the organization immediately. Which Microsoft Defender for Endpoint feature should be used?

Accepted Answer

Indicators of compromise (IOCs). Indicators of compromise (IOCs) in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint allow security analysts to create custom indicators (e.g., file hashes, IPs, URLs) that are enforced across all endpoints in near real-time. By adding the malicious file hash as an IOC with an 'Alert and Block' action, the file is immediately prevented from executing on any managed device, providing a rapid, organization-wide block without waiting for signature updates.

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Attack surface reduction rules

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Automated investigation and response

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Custom detection rules

Question 4

A security analyst wants to create a custom detection rule in Microsoft Defender XDR that triggers when a user receives a phishing email and later clicks a link to a known malicious domain from their device. The rule will use advanced hunting queries. Which two tables should be joined to detect the click event from the device?

Accepted Answer

EmailEvents and DeviceNetworkEvents. Option C is correct because detecting a user clicking a link to a known malicious domain from their device requires joining the email URL information (EmailUrlInfo) with the device-level network event (DeviceNetworkEvents). EmailUrlInfo contains the URLs from emails, and DeviceNetworkEvents records outbound network connections from devices, including the destination domain. Joining these tables on the URL or domain allows you to correlate the email link with the subsequent device click event.

Answer

EmailEvents and EmailUrlInfo

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EmailAttachmentInfo and DeviceProcessEvents

Question 5

A security analyst needs to identify the specific process (filename) that initiated a network connection from a device to a known malicious IP address over the last 24 hours. Which advanced hunting table in Microsoft Defender XDR provides the necessary data including the initiating process filename and the remote IP address?

Accepted Answer

DeviceNetworkEvents. DeviceNetworkEvents is the correct table because it specifically captures network connection events, including the initiating process filename (InitiatingProcessFileName) and the remote IP address (RemoteIP). This table is designed for hunting network-related activities, such as connections to known malicious IPs, within Microsoft Defender XDR's advanced hunting schema.

Answer

DeviceProcessEvents

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DeviceEvents

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DeviceRegistryEvents

Question 6

A security administrator wants to simulate a realistic phishing attack to train users and measure their susceptibility. The simulation should be run from within Microsoft Defender XDR and provide detailed reporting. Which feature should the administrator use?

Accepted Answer

Attack Simulation Training. Attack Simulation Training in Microsoft Defender XDR allows security administrators to create and launch realistic phishing campaigns directly from the Microsoft 365 Defender portal. It provides detailed reporting on user interactions, such as who clicked the link or entered credentials, enabling measurement of user susceptibility and targeted training follow-ups.

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Advanced Hunting

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Automated Investigation and Response

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Threat Analytics

Question 7

A security administrator wants to prevent malware from using Office macros to spawn malicious processes. Specifically, they want to block Excel, Word, and PowerPoint from creating child processes. Which Microsoft Defender for Endpoint capability should be configured?

Accepted Answer

Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) rules. Attack Surface Reduction (ASR) rules are a Microsoft Defender for Endpoint capability specifically designed to block common malware behaviors, such as Office applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint) from creating child processes. This rule (GUID: 26190899-1602-49e8-8b27-eb1d0a1ce869) prevents macros from spawning cmd.exe, powershell.exe, or other executables, directly addressing the administrator's requirement.

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Threat & Vulnerability Management

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Web Protection

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Network Protection

Question 8

A security administrator wants to automatically isolate a device in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint whenever a high-severity alert is triggered. The isolation should occur without manual intervention. Which Microsoft Defender XDR feature should be configured?

Accepted Answer

Automated investigation and response. Automated Investigation and Response (AIR) in Microsoft Defender XDR is designed to automatically respond to threats by running playbooks that can take remediation actions, such as isolating a device, without manual intervention. When a high-severity alert triggers, AIR evaluates the alert and, if configured, executes the isolation action as part of its automated response, meeting the requirement for zero-touch isolation.

Answer

Attack surface reduction rules

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Threat analytics

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Vulnerability management

Question 9

A security analyst has identified a new malware sample with SHA256 hash 'abc123...'. They need to immediately block this file from executing on any managed endpoint across the organization. Which Microsoft Defender for Endpoint capability should they use?

Accepted Answer

Indicators (IoC). Option B is correct because Indicators of Compromise (IoC) in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint allow security analysts to create custom indicators (such as file hashes, IPs, or URLs) that are immediately enforced across all managed endpoints. This capability enables blocking execution of a specific SHA256 hash at the kernel level via the Microsoft Defender Antivirus driver, providing near-instant protection without requiring a signature update or policy change.

Answer

Attack surface reduction rules

Answer

Automated investigation and response

Answer

Threat analytics

Question 10

A security analyst wants to search for instances where a user received a phishing email that was delivered to their inbox, and then later clicked a link within that email that led to a known malicious domain. Which two advanced hunting tables should be joined to identify both the email delivery and the link click events? (Choose the option that correctly identifies the primary table pair.)

Accepted Answer

EmailEvents and DeviceEvents. To correlate a phishing email that was delivered to a user's inbox with a subsequent link click to a known malicious domain, you need to join the EmailEvents table (which records email delivery events, including the delivery action and the unique NetworkMessageId) with the DeviceEvents table (which captures user actions such as clicking a URL, including the ActionType 'PhishClick' or 'UrlClick'). This join allows you to match the email's NetworkMessageId with the click event's NetworkMessageId, linking the delivered email to the specific link click.

Answer

EmailUrlInfo and DeviceProcessEvents

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EmailEvents and DeviceLogonEvents

Question 11

A security analyst needs to create a custom detection rule in Microsoft Defender XDR that triggers when a device communicates with a new, unclassified IP address flagged by Microsoft threat intelligence as potentially malicious. The rule must run every hour and create an incident if the count of such communications exceeds 10 in a 24-hour window. Which type of rule should the analyst create?

Accepted Answer

custom detection rule using advanced hunting. A custom detection rule using advanced hunting is the correct choice because Microsoft Defender XDR allows you to create custom detection rules based on Kusto Query Language (KQL) queries that run on a scheduled interval (e.g., every hour). This rule can query the `DeviceNetworkEvents` table to identify communications with IP addresses flagged as malicious by Microsoft threat intelligence, aggregate the count over a 24-hour sliding window, and trigger an incident when the threshold of 10 is exceeded. This directly meets the requirement for a scheduled, threshold-based detection within Defender XDR.

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scheduled alert rule in Microsoft Sentinel

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An incident creation rule in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps

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custom remediation action rule

Question 12

A security administrator needs to view a unified incident queue that correlates alerts from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender for Office 365, and Microsoft Defender for Identity. Which console should the administrator open?

Accepted Answer

Microsoft 365 Defender portal (security.microsoft.com). The Microsoft 365 Defender portal (security.microsoft.com) provides a unified incident queue that aggregates and correlates alerts from Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Defender for Office 365, Defender for Identity, and Defender for Cloud Apps. This single-pane-of-glass view enables security administrators to investigate and respond to cross-domain threats without switching between separate consoles.

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Azure Security Center

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Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center

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Microsoft Purview compliance portal

Question 13

A security analyst wants to create a custom detection rule in Microsoft Defender XDR that triggers when a user receives a phishing email (delivered to inbox) and later clicks a link from that email that leads to a known malicious domain. The rule will be based on an advanced hunting query. Which two tables should the analyst join in the query to capture both the email delivery event and the link click event? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

EmailEvents. EmailEvents contains records of email delivery events, including phishing emails that were delivered to the inbox. UrlClickEvents captures user clicks on URLs in emails, including the target domain. Joining these two tables on the email's network message ID allows the analyst to correlate the specific phishing email delivery with the subsequent link click to a known malicious domain, which is the exact scenario described.

Answer

DeviceEvents

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IdentityLogonEvents

Question 14

A security analyst has identified a new malware sample with a specific SHA256 hash. The analyst needs to immediately block this file from executing on any managed endpoint across the organization, including prevention of future execution. Which Microsoft Defender for Endpoint capability should the analyst use?

Accepted Answer

Indicators (IoCs) for file hashes. Option B is correct because Indicators of Compromise (IoCs) for file hashes in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint allow an analyst to create a block indicator for a specific SHA256 hash. This action immediately prevents the file from executing on any managed endpoint and persists across reboots, effectively blocking future execution attempts. Unlike other capabilities, IoCs provide a direct, hash-based block that is enforced by the Microsoft Defender Antivirus engine at the point of execution.

Answer

Attack surface reduction (ASR) rules

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Custom detection rules via advanced hunting

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Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management

Question 15

A security analyst wants to create a custom detection rule that triggers when a device communicates with a new, unclassified IP address that has been flagged by Microsoft threat intelligence as potentially malicious. The rule should run every hour and create an incident if more than 5 such communications from the same device occur within a 24-hour window. Which advanced hunting tables should be joined in the KQL query for this rule?

Accepted Answer

DeviceNetworkEvents and IPReputation. Option A is correct because the rule requires detecting network communications to potentially malicious IP addresses, which involves joining `DeviceNetworkEvents` (which logs network connections from devices) with `IPReputation` (which contains Microsoft's threat intelligence classifications for IP addresses). This join allows the query to filter for communications where the destination IP is flagged as malicious and then aggregate by device to trigger an incident when the count exceeds 5 within a 24-hour window.

Answer

DeviceProcessEvents and AlertInfo

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DeviceFileEvents and DeviceIPInfo

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EmailEvents and DeviceNetworkEvents