Question 902 of 1,639

Mitigate threats using Microsoft Defender for Cloud →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The answer is to add an exemption for the VM on the 'Management ports should be closed on just-in-time based virtual machines' recommendation. This works because an exemption in Microsoft Defender for Cloud explicitly excludes a specific resource from a recommendation’s compliance evaluation, effectively suppressing any alerts or recommendations for that VM’s open management ports. On the SC-200 exam, this scenario tests your understanding that exemptions are a governance tool to handle exceptions without disabling the entire security control, while a common trap is confusing a long-duration JIT approval with a permanent exemption—approvals only grant temporary access and do not suppress the underlying recommendation. Remember the memory tip: “Exempt the rule, not the request”—if you want a VM to never trigger a recommendation, you must exempt the resource from the recommendation itself, not just approve a longer access window.

SC-200 Practice Question: Mitigate threats using Microsoft Defender for Cloud

This SC-200 practice question tests your understanding of mitigate threats using microsoft defender for cloud. 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 company uses Microsoft Defender for Cloud's Just-In-Time (JIT) VM access to secure its Azure virtual machines. A security analyst needs to grant a developer temporary RDP access to a specific VM for debugging purposes. Instead of using the default request approval flow, the analyst wants to configure an exemption so that the developer's access request never triggers a recommendation for that VM. Which action must the analyst perform?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "never"
Why it matters: Absolute qualifier. True only if the statement has zero exceptions — be cautious of options that seem obvious but break down in edge cases.

Question 1mediummultiple choice

Full question →

A
Approve the access request once from the JIT blade and set a long expiration.
Why wrong: Approving access is a temporary grant. The recommendation will still appear for the VM if JIT is not enabled. Exemption removes the recommendation entirely.
B
Add an exemption for the VM on the 'Management ports should be closed on just-in-time based virtual machines' recommendation.
Correct. Exempting the VM from the recommendation disables JIT monitoring for that VM, allowing permanent open ports without alerts.
C
Configure a custom Azure Policy to allow open management ports for that VM.
Why wrong: You could use policy to override, but Defender for Cloud's built-in exemption mechanism is the simpler and intended way to exclude a specific resource from a recommendation.
D
Disable the JIT solution for the entire subscription from the Defender for Cloud environment settings.
Why wrong: Disabling JIT for the whole subscription would affect all VMs, not just the one VM. Exemption is resource-specific.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Add an exemption for the VM on the 'Management ports should be closed on just-in-time based virtual machines' recommendation.

To prevent a specific VM from triggering a recommendation for open management ports, you must add an exemption directly on the 'Management ports should be closed on just-in-time based virtual machines' recommendation in Defender for Cloud. This exemption tells the recommendation engine to exclude that VM from compliance evaluation, so no alert or recommendation is generated for it. Approving a request with a long expiration does not suppress the underlying recommendation; it only grants temporary 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.

✗
Approve the access request once from the JIT blade and set a long expiration.
Why it's wrong here
Approving access is a temporary grant. The recommendation will still appear for the VM if JIT is not enabled. Exemption removes the recommendation entirely.
✓
Add an exemption for the VM on the 'Management ports should be closed on just-in-time based virtual machines' recommendation.
Why this is correct
Correct. Exempting the VM from the recommendation disables JIT monitoring for that VM, allowing permanent open ports without alerts.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "never" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Configure a custom Azure Policy to allow open management ports for that VM.
Why it's wrong here
You could use policy to override, but Defender for Cloud's built-in exemption mechanism is the simpler and intended way to exclude a specific resource from a recommendation.
✗
Disable the JIT solution for the entire subscription from the Defender for Cloud environment settings.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling JIT for the whole subscription would affect all VMs, not just the one VM. Exemption is resource-specific.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates confuse 'approving a request with a long expiration' with 'exempting the VM from the recommendation,' not realizing that an exemption is a separate Azure Policy concept that permanently suppresses the recommendation for that resource.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Defender for Cloud recommendations are evaluated by the Azure Policy guest configuration and security engine; exemptions are stored as Azure Policy exemption resources that can be applied at the subscription, resource group, or individual resource level. When you add an exemption on the 'Management ports should be closed...' recommendation for a specific VM, the engine skips that VM during compliance scans, effectively silencing the recommendation without altering the underlying JIT configuration. This is distinct from disabling the JIT solution or modifying policy assignments, which would affect all resources under the scope.

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.

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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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this SC-200 question test?

Mitigate threats using Microsoft Defender for Cloud — This question tests Mitigate threats using Microsoft Defender for Cloud — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Add an exemption for the VM on the 'Management ports should be closed on just-in-time based virtual machines' recommendation. — To prevent a specific VM from triggering a recommendation for open management ports, you must add an exemption directly on the 'Management ports should be closed on just-in-time based virtual machines' recommendation in Defender for Cloud. This exemption tells the recommendation engine to exclude that VM from compliance evaluation, so no alert or recommendation is generated for it. Approving a request with a long expiration does not suppress the underlying recommendation; it only grants temporary access.

What should I do if I get this SC-200 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "never". Absolute qualifier. True only if the statement has zero exceptions — be cautious of options that seem obvious but break down in edge cases.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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