DP-900 Practice Question: Identify considerations for relational data on Azure
A healthcare organization stores patient records in Azure SQL Database. To comply with HIPAA, they need to encrypt sensitive columns like Social Security Numbers (SSNs) at rest and ensure that only authorized users can decrypt them. Which feature should they implement?
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
✓
Always Encrypted
Always Encrypted (A) is correct because it encrypts sensitive columns such as SSNs at rest and keeps the encryption keys outside the database, so only clients with access to the column master key can decrypt the data. This satisfies HIPAA's requirement for column-level protection and strict control over who can decrypt values. TDE (B) encrypts the entire database at rest but does not provide column-level encryption or restrict decryption to specific authorized users. Dynamic Data Masking (C) only obfuscates data in query results and does not encrypt stored values, and Row-Level Security (D) filters rows by user context rather than encrypting columns.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Always Encrypted
Why this is correct
Always Encrypted encrypts individual columns such as SSNs at rest and keeps the keys outside the database engine, so only clients holding the column master key can decrypt them. This satisfies HIPAA's requirement that only authorised users access sensitive data.
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Transparent Data Encryption (TDE)
Why it's wrong here
Transparent Data Encryption encrypts the entire database file at rest, but any user with SELECT permission reads SSNs in plaintext, so it cannot restrict decryption to authorised users per column. Always Encrypted is required for column-level protection with controlled key access.
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Dynamic Data Masking
Why it's wrong here
Dynamic Data Masking only obscures values in query results for non-privileged users; the underlying SSNs stay unencrypted at rest, failing the HIPAA encryption requirement. It suits hiding data from application users, not protecting stored columns cryptographically.
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Row-Level Security
Why it's wrong here
Row-Level Security filters which rows a user may query; it does not encrypt column values, so SSNs remain readable in storage and to anyone with table access. It suits restricting tenants to their own records, not HIPAA encryption of sensitive columns with controlled decryption.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Database Normalization (1NF, 2NF, 3NF)
Key term
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Database is a fully managed relational database-as-a-service (DBaaS) in Microsoft Azure, based on the SQL Server engine, that handles scaling, backups, patching, and high availability automatically.
Key term
Data
Data is raw, unprocessed information, like numbers, words, or measurements, that can be stored, processed, and analyzed by computers.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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