This SC-100 practice question tests your understanding of design security operations, identity, and compliance capabilities. 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.
Your company uses Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps and wants to prevent users from uploading sensitive files to personal cloud storage apps. What should you configure?
Activity policy
Why wrong: Activity policies trigger alerts but do not block the activity itself.
App connector
Why wrong: App connectors collect data from apps, they do not enforce real-time controls.
Session policy
Session policies control user activities in real time, including blocking uploads to unsanctioned apps.
File policy
Why wrong: File policies detect and govern files already in the cloud, they do not block uploads in real time.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Session policy
Session policy in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps allows real-time monitoring and control of user activities based on app and content inspection. By configuring a session policy, you can block or restrict uploads of sensitive files to personal cloud storage apps like Dropbox or Google Drive during the user's session, leveraging reverse proxy capabilities to inspect and intervene in traffic.
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.
Activity policy
Why it's wrong here
Activity policies trigger alerts but do not block the activity itself.
App connector
Why it's wrong here
App connectors collect data from apps, they do not enforce real-time controls.
Session policy
Why this is correct
Session policies control user activities in real time, including blocking uploads to unsanctioned apps.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
File policy
Why it's wrong here
File policies detect and govern files already in the cloud, they do not block uploads in real time.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates confuse 'File policy' (which governs files at rest) with 'Session policy' (which governs files in motion), leading them to select D, even though real-time upload prevention requires session-level control via reverse proxy.
Detailed technical explanation
Session policies leverage a reverse proxy architecture where user traffic is routed through Defender for Cloud Apps, allowing inspection of HTTP/HTTPS requests and responses. This enables conditional access app control to apply DLP rules, such as blocking uploads of files containing credit card numbers (regex-based) or custom sensitive info types, with the ability to provide user feedback (e.g., block message) in real time. In a real-world scenario, a session policy can be scoped to specific user groups (e.g., contractors) and personal app instances (e.g., 'Personal' OneDrive) to prevent data exfiltration without affecting corporate app usage.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
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FAQ
Design security operations, identity, and compliance capabilities — This question tests Design security operations, identity, and compliance capabilities — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Session policy — Session policy in Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps allows real-time monitoring and control of user activities based on app and content inspection. By configuring a session policy, you can block or restrict uploads of sensitive files to personal cloud storage apps like Dropbox or Google Drive during the user's session, leveraging reverse proxy capabilities to inspect and intervene in traffic.
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 24, 2026
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