SC-100 Practice Question: Design solutions that align with security best practices and priorities
This SC-100 practice question tests your understanding of design solutions that align with 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 TWO should you implement to protect privileged accounts in Microsoft Entra ID?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Conditional Access policies requiring MFA for privileged roles
Option B is correct because Conditional Access policies can enforce multifactor authentication (MFA) specifically for users assigned to privileged roles in Microsoft Entra ID. This directly protects those accounts by requiring a second authentication factor, reducing the risk of credential theft or reuse. It is a core identity security control recommended by Microsoft for privileged access.
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
Why it's wrong here
Data protection, not account protection.
✓
Conditional Access policies requiring MFA for privileged roles
Why this is correct
Adds authentication step for privileged access.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Microsoft Defender for Cloud security score
Why it's wrong here
Security posture measurement, not direct protection.
✗
Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management
Why it's wrong here
Focused on software vulnerabilities, not account protection.
✓
Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management (PIM)
Why this is correct
Enables JIT and approval for privileged roles.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse a measurement or monitoring tool (like security score or vulnerability management) with an actual security control that directly protects privileged accounts, leading them to select options that are only indirectly related.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Privileged Identity Management (PIM) works by providing just-in-time (JIT) privileged access, time-bound role activation, and approval workflows, which minimize the standing privileges that attackers could exploit. Under the hood, PIM integrates with Entra ID's directory role assignments and can enforce MFA during activation via Conditional Access policies. A real-world scenario is a security operations center (SOC) where analysts activate the 'Security Reader' role only when needed, with an approval from a manager, reducing the attack surface.
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 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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this SC-100 question in full detail.
Design solutions that align with security best practices and priorities — This question tests Design solutions that align with security best practices and priorities — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Conditional Access policies requiring MFA for privileged roles — Option B is correct because Conditional Access policies can enforce multifactor authentication (MFA) specifically for users assigned to privileged roles in Microsoft Entra ID. This directly protects those accounts by requiring a second authentication factor, reducing the risk of credential theft or reuse. It is a core identity security control recommended by Microsoft for privileged access.
What should I do if I get this SC-100 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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.