DP-203 Practice Question: Secure, monitor, and optimize data storage and data processing
Your company uses Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 as a data lake. You need to monitor for unauthorized access attempts and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. You want to be alerted when someone attempts to access data without proper permissions. What should you configure?
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 diagnostic settings for the storage account, send logs to Log Analytics, and create an alert rule for 'StorageRead' failures.
Enabling diagnostic settings for the storage account and sending logs to Log Analytics allows you to create alert rules that trigger on 'StorageRead' failures, indicating unauthorized access attempts. Option A is incorrect because while RBAC roles limit access, the Azure Activity Log only records management plane operations, not data plane access such as read failures. Option B is incorrect because Azure Policy is for governance and compliance of resource configurations, not for monitoring and alerting on access events. Option D is incorrect because although Azure Sentinel could be used, it is a more complex SIEM solution; the question asks for what should be configured, and the simpler, direct approach is to use diagnostic settings with Log Analytics alerts.
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 RBAC roles to limit access and rely on Azure Activity Log.
Why it's wrong here
Activity log shows operations but requires setup for alerts.
- ✗
Configure Azure Policy to audit storage account access.
Why it's wrong here
Policy audits at resource level, not real-time.
- ✓
Enable diagnostic settings for the storage account, send logs to Log Analytics, and create an alert rule for 'StorageRead' failures.
Why this is correct
Diagnostic logs capture detailed access, alerts can be set on specific conditions.
- ✗
Enable Azure Sentinel and connect storage logs.
Why it's wrong here
Sentinel is powerful but overkill for simple alerting.
Quick reference
Access Control Model Comparison
| Model | Acronym | Who Controls Access? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discretionary Access Control | DAC | Resource owner | Small teams, file shares |
| Mandatory Access Control | MAC | System / security labels | Classified govt / military |
| Role-Based Access Control | RBAC | Administrator (via roles) | Enterprise environments |
| Attribute-Based Access Control | ABAC | Policy engine (user + resource attributes) | Fine-grained, dynamic policies |
| Rule-Based Access Control | RuBAC | System rules / ACLs | Firewall rules, network ACLs |
Go deeper
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DP-203 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 DP-203 exam.