- A
Azure Application Gateway with WAF
Why wrong: Azure Application Gateway is a Layer 7 load balancer that includes Web Application Firewall (WAF), but it is a paid service with additional cost. It is not required for basic IP/port filtering.
- B
Azure Front Door
Why wrong: Azure Front Door is a global load balancer and application delivery controller. It is a paid service and introduces unnecessary complexity for simple inbound traffic filtering to a single VM.
- C
Azure Firewall
Why wrong: Azure Firewall is a managed, stateful firewall service that provides advanced features like threat intelligence and FQDN filtering. It incurs additional cost and is more complex than needed for this use case.
- D
Network Security Group (NSG)
An NSG can be associated with the VM's subnet or network interface. You can create rules to allow inbound HTTPS on port 443 from any source, and allow inbound on port 8443 only from the office IP range. NSGs are free and the default DDoS Protection Basic is included at no additional cost.
Quick Answer
The answer is a Network Security Group (NSG). An NSG is the correct choice because it is a free, managed Azure service that provides basic DDoS protection at no additional cost, allowing you to define granular inbound security rules to allow inbound HTTP/HTTPS to an Azure VM using NSG. Specifically, you can create a rule permitting HTTPS traffic on port 443 from any source, and a separate rule restricting management traffic on port 8443 solely to your company’s office public IP range (203.0.113.0/24), meeting both requirements without extra charges. On the Microsoft Azure Security Engineer Associate AZ-500 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of cost-effective network security controls versus premium services like Azure Firewall or DDoS Protection Standard—a common trap is assuming you need a paid service for basic DDoS protection, but NSGs include it by default. Remember the memory tip: “NSG is free, DDoS is included, rules are granular, costs are excluded.”
AZ-500 Secure networking Practice Question
This AZ-500 practice question tests your understanding of secure networking. 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.
You have an Azure virtual machine that hosts a web application on port 443 and a management interface on port 8443. You need to allow inbound HTTPS traffic from the internet to port 443, and allow inbound traffic on port 8443 only from the company's office public IP range (203.0.113.0/24). You want to use a managed service that provides basic DDoS protection at no additional cost. What should you use?
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
Network Security Group (NSG)
A Network Security Group (NSG) is the correct choice because it is a free, managed Azure service that provides basic DDoS protection at no additional cost. NSGs allow you to define inbound security rules to permit HTTPS traffic (port 443) from any source and restrict management traffic (port 8443) to a specific public IP range (203.113.0.0/24). This meets all requirements without incurring extra charges for advanced services.
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.
- ✗
Azure Application Gateway with WAF
Why it's wrong here
Azure Application Gateway is a Layer 7 load balancer that includes Web Application Firewall (WAF), but it is a paid service with additional cost. It is not required for basic IP/port filtering.
- ✗
Azure Front Door
Why it's wrong here
Azure Front Door is a global load balancer and application delivery controller. It is a paid service and introduces unnecessary complexity for simple inbound traffic filtering to a single VM.
- ✗
Azure Firewall
Why it's wrong here
Azure Firewall is a managed, stateful firewall service that provides advanced features like threat intelligence and FQDN filtering. It incurs additional cost and is more complex than needed for this use case.
- ✓
Network Security Group (NSG)
Why this is correct
An NSG can be associated with the VM's subnet or network interface. You can create rules to allow inbound HTTPS on port 443 from any source, and allow inbound on port 8443 only from the office IP range. NSGs are free and the default DDoS Protection Basic is included at no additional cost.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often over-engineer the solution by choosing a paid, advanced service (like Application Gateway or Azure Firewall) when a simple, free NSG with basic DDoS protection fully satisfies the requirements, especially since the question explicitly states 'at no additional cost'.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
NSGs operate at layers 3 and 4 (network and transport) using 5-tuple rules (source IP, source port, destination IP, destination port, protocol) to filter traffic. The basic DDoS protection provided by Azure is automatically enabled for all public IPs and is included at no cost, covering common volumetric attacks like SYN floods and UDP floods. In contrast, Azure DDoS Protection Standard requires a paid plan and offers additional mitigation capabilities for larger-scale attacks.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
- →
Secure networking — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Secure networking practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
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Microsoft Azure Security Engineer Associate AZ-500 study guide
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AZ-500 practice test guide
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-500 question test?
Secure networking — This question tests Secure networking — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Network Security Group (NSG) — A Network Security Group (NSG) is the correct choice because it is a free, managed Azure service that provides basic DDoS protection at no additional cost. NSGs allow you to define inbound security rules to permit HTTPS traffic (port 443) from any source and restrict management traffic (port 8443) to a specific public IP range (203.113.0.0/24). This meets all requirements without incurring extra charges for advanced services.
What should I do if I get this AZ-500 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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
1 more ways this is tested on AZ-500
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. You have an Azure virtual machine that hosts a web application. You need to allow inbound HTTP (80) and HTTPS (443) traffic from the internet to this VM only. You also need to allow outbound traffic to the internet from the VM. You want to use a managed Azure service with minimal configuration. What should you use?
easy- A.Azure Application Gateway
- B.Azure Firewall
- ✓ C.Network Security Group (NSG)
- D.Azure Bastion
Why C: A Network Security Group (NSG) is the correct choice because it is a managed Azure service that provides a stateful, layer-3/4 firewall for filtering inbound and outbound traffic to a virtual machine. With minimal configuration, you can create inbound rules to allow HTTP (TCP/80) and HTTPS (TCP/443) from the internet (source 'Internet' or 'Any') and an outbound rule to allow all traffic to the internet (default outbound rule already allows this). NSGs are directly associated with a VM's subnet or network interface, making them the simplest managed solution for this scenario.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This AZ-500 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 AZ-500 exam.
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