DP-300 Implement a secure environment Practice Question
You have an Azure SQL Database that stores sensitive customer data. You need to ensure that the data is encrypted at rest using a customer-managed key stored in Azure Key Vault. What should you configure?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse Always Encrypted (which encrypts specific columns at the client side) with TDE (which encrypts the entire database at rest), and they may choose Always Encrypted because it also uses Azure Key Vault, but it does not meet the 'encryption at rest for the entire database' requirement.
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 Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) with a customer-managed key from Azure Key Vault.
Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) with a customer-managed key stored in Azure Key Vault encrypts the database at rest, using a key that you control and rotate independently. This meets the requirement for encryption at rest with a customer-managed key, as TDE performs real-time I/O encryption and decryption of the data and log files without requiring application changes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure dynamic data masking (DDM).
Why it's wrong here
DDM masks data but does not encrypt it.
- ✗
Implement row-level security (RLS) to restrict access.
Why it's wrong here
RLS controls access, not encryption.
- ✓
Enable Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) with a customer-managed key from Azure Key Vault.
Why this is correct
TDE encrypts the entire database at rest.
- ✗
Enable Always Encrypted for the sensitive columns.
Why it's wrong here
Always Encrypted protects specific columns, not the entire database.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Overview of Azure Data Platform Options
Key term
Transparent Data Encryption
Transparent Data Encryption is a security feature that automatically encrypts data written to a database and decrypts it when read, without requiring any changes to the application.
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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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DP-300 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-300 exam.