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SSCP Practice Question: A multinational corporation is migrating its…
A multinational corporation is migrating its on-premises applications to a cloud provider. The identity management infrastructure must support single sign-on (SSO) across multiple cloud services and maintain on-premises Active Directory as the authoritative identity source. The security team is concerned about credential stuffing attacks and password spray attacks. They want to implement a risk-based access policy that requires additional verification when logins originate from unusual locations or devices. Additionally, they need to ensure that user accounts are provisioned and deprovisioned in the cloud in near real-time based on AD changes. Which of the following solutions BEST meets these requirements?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Implement a SAML-based federation with AD FS and integrate with Azure AD Conditional Access policies.
SAML-based federation with AD FS and Azure AD Conditional Access provides SSO, risk-based policies (Conditional Access uses real-time signals like location and device), and near-real-time provisioning via Azure AD Connect. VPN with smart cards does not provide SSO or risk-based policies. OAuth 2.0 with client credentials is not for user authentication. A separate cloud identity store with password sync introduces delays and does not support risk-based access.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Deploy a VPN that requires smart card authentication for all cloud access.
Why it's wrong here
VPN provides access to the network, not SSO to cloud apps, and does not offer risk-based policies; also introduces latency and complexity.
- ✓
Implement a SAML-based federation with AD FS and integrate with Azure AD Conditional Access policies.
Why this is correct
AD FS federates on-premises AD with Azure AD, enabling SSO. Azure AD Conditional Access provides risk-based policies. Azure AD Connect synchronizes directory changes near real-time.
- ✗
Use OAuth 2.0 with client credentials grant for all applications.
Why it's wrong here
Client credentials grant is for server-to-server authentication, not for end-user SSO, and does not address risk-based policies or provisioning.
- ✗
Set up a separate cloud identity store and synchronize passwords using a directory sync tool.
Why it's wrong here
This creates a separate identity store that may not sync instantly, and lacks risk-based policies; also, password sync increases risk of credential stuffing.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SSCP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SSCP exam.