- A
Enable the regulatory compliance dashboard in Defender for Cloud and select the desired standards (CIS, PCI DSS).
The regulatory compliance dashboard assesses against selected standards.
- B
Deploy Azure Firewall in each cloud environment to filter traffic.
Why wrong: Azure Firewall is not involved in compliance assessment or configuration enforcement.
- C
Use Azure Policy to enforce security configurations based on the benchmark recommendations.
Azure Policy can audit or enforce compliant configurations.
- D
Configure continuous export of assessment data to a Log Analytics workspace for custom reporting.
Continuous export allows custom analysis and long-term retention.
- E
Deploy the Log Analytics agent to all VMs in the multi-cloud environment.
Why wrong: The Log Analytics agent is not required for compliance assessments.
Quick Answer
The answer is to configure continuous export of assessment data to a Log Analytics workspace for custom reporting, enable the regulatory compliance dashboard, and add built-in standards like CIS and PCI DSS. This is correct because Microsoft Defender for Cloud’s regulatory compliance dashboard automatically assesses your multi-cloud resources—spanning Azure, AWS, and GCP—against selected industry benchmarks, providing a compliance score and actionable remediation steps. On the Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect exam, this scenario tests your ability to operationalize multi-cloud security posture management, often appearing as a multi-select question where the trap is confusing manual assessment with automated, continuous monitoring. Remember that the dashboard is the central hub for applying standards, while continuous export enables long-term tracking and custom reporting in Log Analytics. A useful memory tip is “Add, Assess, Export”—add the standard, let Defender assess, then export the data for deeper analysis.
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. 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 organization uses Microsoft Defender for Cloud to protect a multi-cloud environment (Azure, AWS, GCP). You need to ensure that security configurations are assessed against industry benchmarks like CIS and PCI DSS. Which THREE actions should you take?
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
Enable the regulatory compliance dashboard in Defender for Cloud and select the desired standards (CIS, PCI DSS).
Option A is correct because the regulatory compliance dashboard in Microsoft Defender for Cloud allows you to add built-in standards such as CIS and PCI DSS. Once enabled, Defender for Cloud automatically assesses your multi-cloud resources against the selected benchmarks and provides a compliance score with detailed recommendations for remediation.
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.
- ✓
Enable the regulatory compliance dashboard in Defender for Cloud and select the desired standards (CIS, PCI DSS).
Why this is correct
The regulatory compliance dashboard assesses against selected standards.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Deploy Azure Firewall in each cloud environment to filter traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Azure Firewall is not involved in compliance assessment or configuration enforcement.
- ✓
Use Azure Policy to enforce security configurations based on the benchmark recommendations.
Why this is correct
Azure Policy can audit or enforce compliant configurations.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
Configure continuous export of assessment data to a Log Analytics workspace for custom reporting.
Why this is correct
Continuous export allows custom analysis and long-term retention.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Deploy the Log Analytics agent to all VMs in the multi-cloud environment.
Why it's wrong here
The Log Analytics agent is not required for compliance assessments.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse network security controls (like Azure Firewall) or agent-based monitoring (Log Analytics agent) with the configuration assessment and compliance reporting capabilities that are native to Defender for Cloud's regulatory compliance dashboard and Azure Policy.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Defender for Cloud's regulatory compliance dashboard uses Azure Policy initiative definitions that map to specific benchmark controls (e.g., CIS controls 1.1, 2.2). When you enable a standard like CIS, Defender for Cloud continuously evaluates the resource configuration against these policies and aggregates results into a compliance score. For multi-cloud environments, Defender for Cloud uses connectors to AWS and GCP to pull configuration data via APIs (e.g., AWS Config, GCP Cloud Asset Inventory) and applies the same policy-based assessment logic.
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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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Design solutions that align with security best practices and priorities — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SC-100 question test?
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: Enable the regulatory compliance dashboard in Defender for Cloud and select the desired standards (CIS, PCI DSS). — Option A is correct because the regulatory compliance dashboard in Microsoft Defender for Cloud allows you to add built-in standards such as CIS and PCI DSS. Once enabled, Defender for Cloud automatically assesses your multi-cloud resources against the selected benchmarks and provides a compliance score with detailed recommendations for remediation.
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
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 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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