- A
Assign the policy to 'All cloud apps' and use a grant control to require multi-factor authentication.
Why wrong: Grant controls are used to require authentication methods, not to control session duration. Additionally, assigning to all cloud apps is broader than needed.
- B
Configure a condition for sign-in risk level and set it to 'High'.
Why wrong: Sign-in risk conditions are used to trigger policies based on the likelihood of a compromised sign-in, not to enforce session timeout.
- C
Add a session control and set 'Sign-in frequency' to 30 minutes.
Session controls allow you to enforce re-authentication after a specified time. Setting sign-in frequency to 30 minutes meets the requirement.
- D
Configure a session control to use 'App enforced restrictions' for SharePoint.
Why wrong: App enforced restrictions delegate session control to the application itself. SharePoint has its own session timeout settings, but this does not guarantee re-authentication every 30 minutes as enforced by Azure AD.
Quick Answer
The correct answer is to add a session control and set sign-in frequency to 30 minutes. This works because the sign-in frequency session control in Azure AD Conditional Access directly governs how often a user must re-authenticate, independent of whether MFA is already enforced. By targeting this control to SharePoint Online and specifying a 30-minute interval, external users will be prompted to re-authenticate at that exact frequency, fulfilling the security requirement without altering the existing MFA policy. On the AZ-500 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between grant controls (like MFA) and session controls (like sign-in frequency), which is a common trap—many candidates mistakenly try to adjust the MFA grant instead of adding a separate session control. A helpful memory tip is to think of sign-in frequency as a “re-login timer” that runs separately from the MFA requirement, so remember: “Session for seconds, Grant for gates.”
AZ-500 Manage identity and access Practice Question
This AZ-500 practice question tests your understanding of manage identity and access. 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 uses Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) and has a conditional access policy that requires multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all external users accessing SharePoint Online. However, the security team wants to enforce that external users must re-authenticate every 30 minutes when accessing SharePoint. Which control should they configure in a new conditional access policy targeting SharePoint Online?
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
Add a session control and set 'Sign-in frequency' to 30 minutes.
Option C is correct because the 'Sign-in frequency' session control in a Conditional Access policy allows administrators to enforce re-authentication at a specified interval. By setting this to 30 minutes and targeting the SharePoint Online app, external users will be prompted to re-authenticate every 30 minutes, meeting the security team's requirement. This control is independent of MFA and specifically addresses the frequency of authentication sessions.
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.
- ✗
Assign the policy to 'All cloud apps' and use a grant control to require multi-factor authentication.
Why it's wrong here
Grant controls are used to require authentication methods, not to control session duration. Additionally, assigning to all cloud apps is broader than needed.
- ✗
Configure a condition for sign-in risk level and set it to 'High'.
Why it's wrong here
Sign-in risk conditions are used to trigger policies based on the likelihood of a compromised sign-in, not to enforce session timeout.
- ✓
Add a session control and set 'Sign-in frequency' to 30 minutes.
Why this is correct
Session controls allow you to enforce re-authentication after a specified time. Setting sign-in frequency to 30 minutes meets the requirement.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Configure a session control to use 'App enforced restrictions' for SharePoint.
Why it's wrong here
App enforced restrictions delegate session control to the application itself. SharePoint has its own session timeout settings, but this does not guarantee re-authentication every 30 minutes as enforced by Azure AD.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'Sign-in frequency' with 'Grant controls' (like MFA) or 'Conditions' (like risk), not realizing that session controls specifically manage the duration of authentication sessions rather than the method of authentication.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The 'Sign-in frequency' session control uses Azure AD's token lifetime management to force re-authentication by invalidating the user's session token after the specified period. This is implemented via the 'Keep me signed in' (KMSI) settings and can be set to values from 1 hour to 365 days, but for values less than 1 hour, it uses a 'persistent browser session' control that effectively re-prompts the user. In real-world scenarios, this is critical for high-security environments like regulated industries where external access to sensitive data requires frequent re-verification.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this AZ-500 question test?
Manage identity and access — This question tests Manage identity and access — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Add a session control and set 'Sign-in frequency' to 30 minutes. — Option C is correct because the 'Sign-in frequency' session control in a Conditional Access policy allows administrators to enforce re-authentication at a specified interval. By setting this to 30 minutes and targeting the SharePoint Online app, external users will be prompted to re-authenticate every 30 minutes, meeting the security team's requirement. This control is independent of MFA and specifically addresses the frequency of authentication sessions.
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.
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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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