SC-900 Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity — Timed 10 Questions

Question 1

A security analyst is explaining the core principles of information security to a new team member. Which principle ensures that data is not modified by unauthorized parties?

Accepted Answer

Integrity. The principle of integrity ensures that data remains accurate and unaltered during storage, processing, or transmission, except by authorized entities. In the context of information security, integrity is specifically concerned with preventing unauthorized modification, deletion, or creation of data. This is often enforced through mechanisms such as hashing (e.g., SHA-256), digital signatures, and checksums (e.g., CRC32) that detect any tampering.

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Confidentiality

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Availability

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Non-repudiation

Question 2

A company is moving its on-premises database to Azure SQL Database. According to the shared responsibility model, which security tasks remain the responsibility of the customer?

Accepted Answer

Managing access controls and authentication for database users. In the shared responsibility model for Azure SQL Database, Microsoft manages the physical infrastructure, including servers, storage, and network, while the customer is responsible for data and access management. Option B is correct because managing access controls and authentication for database users, such as configuring logins, users, and permissions via T-SQL or Azure Active Directory, falls squarely on the customer. Microsoft ensures the platform is patched and secure, but the customer must control who can access the database and what they can do.

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Patching the physical servers hosting the database

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Securing the hypervisor running the virtual machines

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Hardening the network firewalls at the datacenter perimeter

Question 3

A security architect is adopting a new security model that assumes breach and verifies every access request. The model eliminates implicit trust and requires continuous validation. Which security model is being implemented?

Accepted Answer

Zero Trust. Zero Trust is the correct model because it explicitly assumes breach, eliminates implicit trust, and requires continuous validation of every access request. This aligns with the core Zero Trust principle of 'never trust, always verify,' which mandates that no user, device, or network is trusted by default, even if they are inside the corporate perimeter.

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Defense in Depth

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Least Privilege

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Shared Responsibility

Question 4

A company is migrating its on-premises workloads to Azure. The CISO wants to understand the division of security responsibilities between Microsoft and the customer across cloud service models. For which cloud service model does the customer have the most security responsibility?

Accepted Answer

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). In the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model, the customer is responsible for securing the operating system, applications, data, and network configurations, while Microsoft only secures the physical datacenter, host servers, and hypervisor. This gives the customer the most security responsibility compared to PaaS or SaaS, where Microsoft manages more of the stack.

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Software as a Service (SaaS)

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Platform as a Service (PaaS)

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On-premises

Question 5

A security architect is designing a new security posture based on the Zero Trust model. The architect wants to ensure that every access request is fully authenticated, authorized, and encrypted before granting access, and that access is granted only to the minimum necessary resources. Which three principles of Zero Trust align with these requirements? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

Verify explicitly. Option A is correct because the 'Verify explicitly' principle of Zero Trust requires that every access request must be fully authenticated, authorized, and encrypted before granting access. This means using strong authentication mechanisms (e.g., multifactor authentication) and continuous validation of identity and device health, not just relying on network location or implicit trust.

Answer

Network segmentation

Question 6

A company's security policy requires that customer data must only be accessible by authorized sales representatives. Which security principle does this requirement directly enforce?

Accepted Answer

Confidentiality. The principle of confidentiality ensures that information is accessible only to authorized individuals or systems. In this scenario, restricting access to customer data to only authorized sales representatives aligns with maintaining confidentiality. The other options are incorrect: Integrity ensures data is not improperly modified, Availability ensures systems are operational, and Non-repudiation ensures actions cannot be denied.

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Integrity

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Availability

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Non-repudiation

Question 7

A company uses Microsoft Entra ID and has multiple departments with separate organizational units (OUs) in its on-premises Active Directory. The help desk team needs to be able to reset passwords for users only in the Finance department. What feature should be used to delegate this administrative scope?

Accepted Answer

Administrative Units. Administrative Units (AUs) in Microsoft Entra ID allow you to delegate administrative permissions over a subset of users, groups, or devices without granting broader tenant-wide access. By creating an AU for the Finance department and assigning the Helpdesk Administrator role scoped to that AU, the help desk team can reset passwords only for Finance users, matching the on-premises OU structure.

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Dynamic groups

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Conditional Access policies

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Privileged Identity Management (PIM)

Question 8

A security administrator is explaining the concept of defense in depth to a new team member. Which statement best describes this approach?

Accepted Answer

Layering multiple security controls across different areas of the IT environment. Defense in depth is a cybersecurity strategy that employs multiple layers of security controls across different areas of the IT environment (network, endpoint, application, data, and physical). This approach ensures that if one control fails, another is already in place to mitigate the threat, providing redundancy and reducing the risk of a single point of failure. Microsoft's security framework, including tools like Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Azure Firewall, operationalizes this concept by integrating protections at each layer.

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Using a single, strong firewall to block all external traffic

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Relying solely on encryption to protect all data at rest and in transit

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Implementing only physical security measures to protect the data center

Question 9

A user logs into a company's financial application using their Microsoft Entra ID credentials. After successful sign-in, the application displays a dashboard with data for only the regions the user is authorized to manage. Which two security concepts are demonstrated in this scenario? (Select all that apply.)

Accepted Answer

Authentication. Authentication is demonstrated because the user proves their identity by logging in with Microsoft Entra ID credentials, confirming they are who they claim to be. Authorization is demonstrated because after authentication, the application restricts the dashboard to show only data for regions the user is permitted to manage, enforcing access control based on assigned permissions.

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Accounting

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Non-repudiation

Question 10

A security manager wants to ensure that an employee who sends an email cannot later deny having sent it. Which security concept and associated technology is best suited to achieve this?

Accepted Answer

Non-repudiation, achieved through digital signatures. Non-repudiation ensures that a party cannot deny an action, such as sending an email. Digital signatures, which use asymmetric cryptography (e.g., RSA or ECDSA) and a hash of the message, provide cryptographic proof of the sender's identity and message integrity, making denial impossible.

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Confidentiality, achieved through encryption

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Integrity, achieved through hashing

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Access control, achieved through permissions