DP-300 Implement a secure environment Practice Question
You are the database administrator for a SaaS company that uses Azure SQL Database. The company has a new requirement to audit all SELECT operations on a specific table containing sensitive customer data. You enable auditing on the server and configure a storage account for audit logs. However, after 24 hours, you notice that no SELECT operations are captured in the audit logs. You verify that the table is being accessed frequently. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume enabling server-level auditing automatically captures all database operations, including SELECT queries, when in reality SELECT operations require explicit database-level audit configuration.
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
✓
The audit policy is not configured to capture SELECT operations; only UPDATE, INSERT, and DELETE are captured
The default server-level audit policy in Azure SQL Database captures only data manipulation language (DML) operations like UPDATE, INSERT, and DELETE, not SELECT queries. To audit SELECT operations, you must explicitly configure a database-level audit action group such as DATABASE_OBJECT_ACCESS_GROUP or SCHEMA_OBJECT_ACCESS_GROUP, or use a custom audit action like SELECT on the specific table. Without this configuration, SELECT operations are not recorded in the audit logs, even if server auditing is enabled and the storage account is properly configured.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The storage account key was rotated and the audit configuration is using an expired key
Why it's wrong here
Key rotation would cause audit log writes to fail, but it would not prevent SELECT events from being captured.
- ✓
The audit policy is not configured to capture SELECT operations; only UPDATE, INSERT, and DELETE are captured
Why this is correct
By default, auditing captures data manipulation, not SELECT. You need to enable schema object access auditing.
- ✗
The client application is using a connection string that bypasses the server firewall
Why it's wrong here
Auditing is independent of firewall rules.
- ✗
The storage account is in a different region than the SQL Database server
Why it's wrong here
Cross-region storage is supported for audit logs.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Overview of Azure Data Platform Options
Key term
Azure SQL Performance Tuning
Azure SQL Performance Tuning is the process of optimizing the speed and efficiency of queries and database operations in Microsoft Azure SQL Database or SQL Managed Instance to reduce latency and improve throughput.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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