This SC-100 practice question tests your understanding of recommend security best practices and priorities. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.
Which THREE of the following are key components of a defense-in-depth strategy?
Physical security
Physical security is the first layer of defense.
Flat network topology
Why wrong: Flat networks increase attack surface.
Single sign-on (SSO)
Why wrong: SSO is a usability feature, not a defense layer.
Identity and access management
IAM is a critical layer for controlling access.
Network segmentation
Network segmentation limits lateral movement.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Physical security
Physical security is a foundational layer in defense-in-depth, protecting hardware assets from unauthorized physical access, theft, or tampering. It includes measures like biometric locks, surveillance cameras, and secure server rooms, which prevent attackers from bypassing logical controls by directly interacting with systems.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Physical security
Why this is correct
Physical security is the first layer of defense.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Flat network topology
Why it's wrong here
Flat networks increase attack surface.
Single sign-on (SSO)
Why it's wrong here
SSO is a usability feature, not a defense layer.
Identity and access management
Why this is correct
IAM is a critical layer for controlling access.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Network segmentation
Why this is correct
Network segmentation limits lateral movement.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse convenience features like SSO with security controls, or assume a flat network is simpler and thus more secure, failing to recognize that defense-in-depth requires multiple independent barriers, not a single authentication mechanism.
Detailed technical explanation
Defense-in-depth relies on multiple independent layers such as perimeter firewalls, network segmentation via VLANs or ACLs, host-based intrusion detection, and data encryption at rest and in transit. For example, even if an attacker exploits a web application vulnerability (Layer 7), proper network segmentation (Layer 3/4) can isolate the compromised host from critical databases, while Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies at the data layer can block exfiltration attempts.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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FAQ
Recommend security best practices and priorities — This question tests Recommend security best practices and priorities — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Physical security — Physical security is a foundational layer in defense-in-depth, protecting hardware assets from unauthorized physical access, theft, or tampering. It includes measures like biometric locks, surveillance cameras, and secure server rooms, which prevent attackers from bypassing logical controls by directly interacting with systems.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This SC-100 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 SC-100 exam.
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