MS-900 Practice Question: Describe security, compliance, privacy, and trust in Microsoft 365
This MS-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe security, compliance, privacy, and trust in microsoft 365. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A compliance officer needs to automatically detect when an employee attempts to send an email containing a social security number (SSN) to an external recipient. The solution should block the email from being sent and notify the employee with a policy tip. Which Microsoft Purview solution should be configured?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is the correct solution because it is specifically designed to detect sensitive information (such as social security numbers) in emails and other data in transit. When a DLP policy is configured with a rule that matches the SSN condition and an action to block the message, it automatically prevents the email from being sent and displays a policy tip to the user, notifying them of the violation. This aligns directly with the requirement to both block the email and provide real-time user notification.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Why this is correct
DLP policies can identify sensitive data like SSNs and block the email, providing a policy tip to the user.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Microsoft Purview Information Protection
Why it's wrong here
Information Protection deals with classifying and labeling content, but does not automatically block emails in transit.
✗
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery
Why it's wrong here
eDiscovery is used to search, hold, and export content for legal cases, not to prevent data leaks.
✗
Microsoft Purview Audit
Why it's wrong here
Audit logs activities but does not actively block or prevent data transmission.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Information Protection (labeling) with Data Loss Prevention (enforcement), assuming that applying a sensitivity label automatically blocks data exfiltration, when in fact DLP policies are required to enforce actions like blocking and policy tips.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, DLP policies in Exchange Online leverage transport rules and the Microsoft 365 built-in sensitive information types (e.g., U.S. Social Security Number, which uses a regex pattern and checksum validation) to inspect email content and attachments in real time. The policy tip is delivered via the Outlook client (web, desktop, or mobile) using the Exchange Web Services (EWS) or the Outlook add-in, and the block action is enforced by the Exchange Online transport pipeline before the message leaves the organization. A subtle behavior is that DLP can also apply to emails already in transit (e.g., in a shared mailbox) but the block action only applies during composition or submission, not retroactively.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this MS-900 question in full detail.
Describe security, compliance, privacy, and trust in Microsoft 365 — This question tests Describe security, compliance, privacy, and trust in Microsoft 365 — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP) — Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is the correct solution because it is specifically designed to detect sensitive information (such as social security numbers) in emails and other data in transit. When a DLP policy is configured with a rule that matches the SSN condition and an action to block the message, it automatically prevents the email from being sent and displays a policy tip to the user, notifying them of the violation. This aligns directly with the requirement to both block the email and provide real-time user notification.
What should I do if I get this MS-900 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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