- A
Enable the 'Secure transfer required' property on the storage account.
Correct. Enabling 'Secure transfer required' forces clients to use SMB 3.0 with encryption (or HTTPS) when connecting to the Azure Files share, ensuring encryption in transit.
- B
Configure a network security group (NSG) to allow only encrypted traffic.
Why wrong: Incorrect. NSGs filter based on IP addresses and ports; they cannot enforce SMB encryption. Encryption is a transport-layer feature.
- C
Set the minimum SMB protocol version to 3.0 on the file share.
Why wrong: Incorrect. Azure Files does not support configuring a minimum SMB version at the share level. The 'Secure transfer required' setting is the correct method.
- D
Create a service endpoint for the storage account.
Why wrong: Incorrect. Service endpoints provide network security by restricting access to the storage account from specific virtual networks, but they do not enforce encryption in transit.
Quick Answer
The answer is to enable the 'Secure transfer required' property on the storage account. This setting enforces encryption in transit by rejecting any client connection that does not use HTTPS or SMB 3.0 with encryption, effectively blocking unencrypted SMB 2.1 or SMB 3.0 connections to Azure Files. Without this flag, clients can bypass SMB encryption even when the share supports it, because the property acts as a mandatory gate at the storage account level. On the AZ-500 exam, this scenario tests your understanding that encryption at rest (CMK) and encryption in transit are separate controls; the common trap is assuming SMB 3.0 encryption is automatic once the share is created. Remember the mnemonic "Secure Transfer = SMB Shield" — if you want to enforce SMB encryption for Azure Files, you must flip that single toggle on the storage account, not just the file share.
AZ-500 Secure compute, storage, and databases Practice Question
This AZ-500 practice question tests your understanding of secure compute, storage, and databases. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 stores sensitive files in Azure Files shares. They require encryption at rest using customer-managed keys (CMK) and encryption in transit using SMB 3.0 encryption. They have created a premium Azure Files share in a storage account and configured encryption at rest with a CMK. However, clients are able to connect without enforcing SMB encryption. What additional configuration is necessary to ensure that all connections to the file share are encrypted in transit?
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
Enable the 'Secure transfer required' property on the storage account.
Enabling the 'Secure transfer required' property on the storage account enforces encryption in transit for all client connections, including SMB 3.0 encryption for Azure Files. Without this setting, clients can connect using unencrypted SMB 2.1 or SMB 3.0 without encryption, even if the file share itself supports encryption. This property is a storage account-level flag that rejects any request not using HTTPS or SMB 3.0 with encryption.
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.
- ✓
Enable the 'Secure transfer required' property on the storage account.
Why this is correct
Correct. Enabling 'Secure transfer required' forces clients to use SMB 3.0 with encryption (or HTTPS) when connecting to the Azure Files share, ensuring encryption in transit.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Configure a network security group (NSG) to allow only encrypted traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. NSGs filter based on IP addresses and ports; they cannot enforce SMB encryption. Encryption is a transport-layer feature.
- ✗
Set the minimum SMB protocol version to 3.0 on the file share.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Azure Files does not support configuring a minimum SMB version at the share level. The 'Secure transfer required' setting is the correct method.
- ✗
Create a service endpoint for the storage account.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Service endpoints provide network security by restricting access to the storage account from specific virtual networks, but they do not enforce encryption in transit.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse protocol version enforcement (Option C) with encryption enforcement, not realizing that SMB 3.0 can be used without encryption unless the 'Secure transfer required' property is explicitly enabled.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The 'Secure transfer required' property works by rejecting any request that does not use HTTPS (for REST APIs) or SMB 3.0 with encryption (for file shares). When enabled, the storage account returns an error (e.g., 403 Forbidden) for unencrypted connections. This setting is independent of the encryption-at-rest configuration (CMK) and is essential for meeting compliance requirements like PCI DSS or HIPAA that mandate encryption in transit. Note that for Azure Files, SMB 3.0 encryption is negotiated during the SMB dialect selection; the storage account enforces this by requiring the client to support SMB 3.0 encryption.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-500 question test?
Secure compute, storage, and databases — This question tests Secure compute, storage, and databases — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Enable the 'Secure transfer required' property on the storage account. — Enabling the 'Secure transfer required' property on the storage account enforces encryption in transit for all client connections, including SMB 3.0 encryption for Azure Files. Without this setting, clients can connect using unencrypted SMB 2.1 or SMB 3.0 without encryption, even if the file share itself supports encryption. This property is a storage account-level flag that rejects any request not using HTTPS or SMB 3.0 with encryption.
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
2 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. A company stores sensitive files in Azure Files shares. They require that data is encrypted at rest using a customer-managed key (CMK) stored in Azure Key Vault, and that all client connections use SMB 3.0 encryption for end-to-end encryption in transit. They create a premium Azure Files share in a storage account and configure encryption at rest with a CMK. However, clients are unable to connect without SMB encryption. What additional configuration is necessary to enforce SMB encryption for all connections?
hard- A.No additional configuration is needed; Azure Files uses SMB encryption by default and cannot be disabled.
- ✓ B.Enable 'Secure transfer required' in the storage account's configuration to enforce SMB 3.0 encryption.
- C.Configure a network security group (NSG) rule to block SMB traffic on port 445 that does not use encryption.
- D.Set the Azure Files share to use the 'Premium' performance tier; encryption is only available on premium shares.
Why B: Option B is correct because enabling 'Secure transfer required' on the storage account enforces that all client connections use SMB 3.0 with encryption, which is necessary for end-to-end encryption in transit. Even though encryption at rest is configured with a CMK, the storage account does not automatically require encrypted connections; this setting explicitly denies unencrypted SMB 2.1 or SMB 3.0 without encryption.
Variation 2. Your company uses Azure Files shares for user home directories. Security policy requires that all data be encrypted at rest and in transit. You have enabled encryption at rest using Azure Storage Service Encryption (SSE). For encryption in transit, you require SMB clients to use SMB 3.0 or later with encryption. You configure the storage account to require secure transfer. A user reports that they cannot mount the file share from a Windows 10 machine that is not domain-joined. The user can mount other file shares without issues. What is the most likely reason for the failure?
easy- A.The storage account firewall is blocking the client's public IP address.
- B.The user's machine is not domain-joined, so it cannot authenticate to Azure Files.
- C.Azure Files only supports SMB 2.1, and the client is trying to use SMB 3.0.
- ✓ D.The client machine does not support SMB 3.0 encryption, which is required when secure transfer is enabled.
Why D: Option B is correct: When secure transfer is required, SMB 3.0 with encryption is mandatory. If the client does not support SMB encryption (e.g., due to older OS or misconfiguration), the mount will fail. Option A: Azure Files supports SMB mount from non-domain-joined machines. Option C: Azure Files supports both SMB protocols. Option D: DNS resolution is not the issue if they can mount other shares.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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