MS-900 Describe Microsoft 365 apps and services Practice Question
A company uses Microsoft 365 E5 and wants to automatically classify sensitive emails containing credit card numbers and then apply encryption. Which solution should they use in combination with Microsoft Purview?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse Microsoft Purview Information Protection with Microsoft Defender for Office 365, assuming threat protection includes data classification, when in fact Defender focuses on inbound/outbound threats and not on content-based sensitivity labels or encryption policies.
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
✓
Microsoft Purview Information Protection
Microsoft Purview Information Protection (formerly Azure Information Protection) enables automatic classification of sensitive data, such as credit card numbers, using built-in sensitive information types and exact data match (EDM) classifiers. When combined with sensitivity labels, it can automatically apply encryption (e.g., via Azure Rights Management) to emails containing that data, meeting the requirement without additional services.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft 365 Copilot is an AI-driven productivity assistant that composes content, summarizes email threads, and generates documents inside Microsoft 365 apps. It does not enforce policy-based automatic classification or apply sensitivity labels to stored or shared data. Since the requirement centers on automated compliance protection of content, Copilot is not the relevant solution and lacks the data governance capabilities needed for this task.
- ✗
Microsoft Intune
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Intune is a unified endpoint management (UEM) and mobile device management (MDM) service that controls device enrollment, security baselines, and conditional access for apps and data on endpoints. Its compliance policies govern device posture, such as requiring disk encryption or checking for jailbroken devices, but Intune does not inspect or label the actual content within files or emails. Therefore, it cannot perform automatic discovery or content-aware classification of sensitive data as the scenario requires.
- ✓
Microsoft Purview Information Protection
Why this is correct
Microsoft Purview Information Protection provides sensitivity labels with auto-labeling policies that automatically classify and encrypt documents and emails based on sensitive information types or trainable classifiers. Once triggered, it applies encryption via Azure Rights Management, visual markings, and access restrictions to ensure only authorized users can view or modify the data. This directly satisfies the need for automatic, content-triggered compliance protection, making it the correct choice for the scenario.
- ✗
Microsoft Defender for Office 365
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is a threat protection service that shields Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams from malware, phishing, business email compromise, and malicious links. It operates on incoming messages and file attachments to block or remediate threats, but it does not assign sensitivity labels, classify content, or encrypt files based on data governance rules. Since the goal is automated information protection rather than threat mitigation, Defender for Office 365 is not the appropriate tool.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This MS-900 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 MS-900 exam.