AZ-500 Soft-delete Practice Question
A company uses Azure Key Vault to store keys and secrets. They want to ensure that even if an administrator accidentally deletes a key, it can be recovered for up to 90 days. Additionally, they want to prevent anyone from permanently purging the key during that period. Which two features must be enabled?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is that candidates may think resource locks on the vault can prevent purging of keys, but purging is a direct operation on the key resource that is not blocked by a lock on the vault. Only purge protection on the vault prevents purging during the retention period.
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
✓
Soft-delete and purge protection
Soft-delete must be enabled to retain a deleted key for a configurable retention period (default 90 days), allowing recovery. To prevent permanent purging during that period, purge protection must be enabled, as it directly blocks purge operations on soft-deleted keys. Resource locks on the Key Vault do not prevent purging of keys themselves, as purging is an operation on the key resource, not on the vault. Therefore, only option A (soft-delete + purge protection) satisfies both requirements.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Soft-delete and purge protection
Why this is correct
Correct. Soft-delete retains deleted keys for up to 90 days, and purge protection prevents permanent purging during that period.
- ✗
Soft-delete and resource locks
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. While soft-delete is necessary, resource locks on the Key Vault do not prevent purging of soft-deleted keys. Purging is an operation on the key resource, not on the vault itself.
- ✗
Purge protection and access policies
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Purge protection alone without soft-delete would not allow recovery; access policies control permissions, not deletion recovery or purge prevention.
- ✗
Soft-delete and backup
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Soft-delete alone allows recovery but does not prevent purging; backup does not prevent purging or provide the same recovery guarantee.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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