AZ-400 Develop a security and compliance plan Practice Question
This AZ-400 practice question tests your understanding of develop a security and compliance plan. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is adopting Azure DevOps and needs to ensure that all pipelines comply with regulatory standards. The security team wants to enforce that every build includes a security scan and that deployment to production requires approval from a compliance officer. Which TWO actions should the DevOps engineer take?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a required template that includes the security scan task and mandate its use via a pipeline resource.
Option B is correct because creating a required template that includes the security scan task and mandating its use via a pipeline resource ensures that every pipeline inherits the security scan step, enforcing compliance at the pipeline definition level. Option D is correct because configuring a required reviewer approval on the production stage of the release pipeline enforces that a compliance officer must explicitly approve the deployment, meeting the regulatory requirement for production deployments.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Configure branch policies to require a security scan on pull requests.
Why it's wrong here
Branch policies apply to code, not pipeline stages.
✓
Create a required template that includes the security scan task and mandate its use via a pipeline resource.
Why this is correct
Required templates enforce consistent steps.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Add a variable group to store security scan results and reference it in the pipeline.
Why it's wrong here
Variable groups store values, not enforce approvals.
✓
Configure a required reviewer approval on the production stage of the release pipeline.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use a pipeline decorator to automatically run a security scan on every build.
Why it's wrong here
This is valid but not one of the two best options; A and D are more direct.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse branch policies (Option A) with build-level enforcement, not realizing that branch policies only apply to pull request validation, not to all builds triggered by other events like CI or scheduled triggers.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Required templates in Azure DevOps are defined using the `template` keyword in YAML pipelines and can be enforced via pipeline settings or repository policies (e.g., requiring a specific template repository). The required reviewer approval on a production stage leverages Azure Pipelines' approval gates, which can be configured to require a specific user or group (e.g., compliance-officer@contoso.com) and can include timeout and resubmit settings. Under the hood, the approval gate blocks the deployment until the designated reviewer approves via the Azure DevOps portal or API, and the pipeline run remains in a 'waiting for approval' state.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this AZ-400 question in full detail.
Develop a security and compliance plan — This question tests Develop a security and compliance plan — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a required template that includes the security scan task and mandate its use via a pipeline resource. — Option B is correct because creating a required template that includes the security scan task and mandating its use via a pipeline resource ensures that every pipeline inherits the security scan step, enforcing compliance at the pipeline definition level. Option D is correct because configuring a required reviewer approval on the production stage of the release pipeline enforces that a compliance officer must explicitly approve the deployment, meeting the regulatory requirement for production deployments.
What should I do if I get this AZ-400 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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