Question 1hardmultiple choice
Full question →hardmultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A security analyst is investigating an advanced persistent threat (APT) campaign that involves lateral movement using RDP. The analyst wants to create a custom detection rule in Microsoft 365 Defender that triggers when a device remotely connects to another device via RDP (process: mstsc.exe) and, within 10 minutes, the remote device executes a suspicious script (e.g., PowerShell.exe with encoded command). Which KQL query pattern in advanced hunting should be used to correlate these events across devices?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Distractor review
DeviceProcessEvents | where FileName == 'mstsc.exe' | join DeviceProcessEvents on DeviceName | where (Timestamp2 - Timestamp1) between (0m..10m) and FileName == 'powershell.exe'
Joining on DeviceName from the same table would not match the remote device; also missing extraction of remote target.
B
Best answer
DeviceProcessEvents | where FileName == 'mstsc.exe' | project SourceDevice = DeviceName, TimeGenerated, RemoteDevice = extract(remote device from command line) | join kind=inner (DeviceProcessEvents | where FileName == 'powershell.exe') on $left.RemoteDevice == $right.DeviceName and $left.TimeGenerated between ($right.TimeGenerated-10m .. $right.TimeGenerated)
This pattern extracts the remote device from the mstsc command line and joins with PowerShell events on the remote device within a 10-minute window after the RDP connection.
C
Distractor review
DeviceProcessEvents | where FileName in~ ('mstsc.exe', 'powershell.exe') and TimeGenerated > ago(1h) | summarize makelist(DeviceName) by bin(TimeGenerated, 10m)
This summary does not correlate RDP to script execution on the same or different device; it just lists devices per time bin.
D
Distractor review
DeviceProcessEvents | where FileName == 'mstsc.exe' | extend RemoteDevice = extract(...,1, ProcessCommandLine) | join kind=inner (DeviceProcessEvents | where FileName == 'powershell.exe') on $left.RemoteDevice == $right.DeviceName and $left.TimeGenerated between ($right.TimeGenerated - 10m .. $right.TimeGenerated)
The time window direction is reversed; the PowerShell should occur after mstsc.exe, not before.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Related practice questions
Related SC-200 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A Microsoft Sentinel scheduled analytics rule detects impossible travel but creates too many duplicate incidents for the same user within a short period. Which two rule settings should you tune? (Choose 2.)
Question 2
A phishing email was delivered to several users. The analyst wants to find all messages in the campaign, see delivery actions, and perform remediation from the Microsoft 365 Defender portal. Which tool should they use?
Question 3
A security analyst in Microsoft Defender for Cloud receives an alert that an Azure VM has a vulnerability with a high severity. The analyst wants to see the detailed finding, including the steps to remediate. Which blade or page should the analyst open?
Question 4
A company uses Microsoft Defender for Cloud to protect an Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster. The security team wants to receive security alerts about suspicious activities within the cluster, such as a container running with root privileges or attempts to read sensitive host paths. Which Defender for Cloud plan must be enabled to generate these alerts?
Question 5
A security analyst is configuring Microsoft Sentinel scheduled analytics rules to detect brute-force attacks on Microsoft Entra ID. Arrange the steps in the correct order from first to last.
Question 6
An organization uses Microsoft 365 Defender. A security analyst is investigating a malware incident on a user's device. The automated investigation and response (AIR) has already isolated the device from the network. The analyst now needs to collect a copy of a specific suspicious file from the device for further analysis. Which action should the analyst initiate from the device's entity page?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SC-200 question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: DeviceProcessEvents | where FileName == 'mstsc.exe' | project SourceDevice = DeviceName, TimeGenerated, RemoteDevice = extract(remote device from command line) | join kind=inner (DeviceProcessEvents | where FileName == 'powershell.exe') on $left.RemoteDevice == $right.DeviceName and $left.TimeGenerated between ($right.TimeGenerated-10m .. $right.TimeGenerated) — To correlate events across devices, you need to compare timestamps and device information. Option A uses a join on DeviceName from the source and target, but DeviceName is not the correct field; you need the 'RemoteDeviceName' from the network connection events (DeviceNetworkEvents) or process creation with remote target. A better approach is to identify the RDP connection from DeviceProcessEvents (mstsc.exe) which may have a 'RemoteDeviceName' in the ProcessCommandLine or via DeviceNetworkEvents. Then join with DeviceProcessEvents on the remote device within a time window. Option B correctly suggests using a join across two DeviceProcessEvents timestamps but lacks proper fields. Option C uses a time window and filters for mstsc.exe and powershell.exe, but the correlation is not properly scoped to the source and target. Option D correctly retrieves RDP connections from DeviceProcessEvents (where FileName == 'mstsc.exe'), extracts the target device (using parse_command_line() or similar), and then uses a subquery or join to find PowerShell activity on that target within 10 minutes. The most precise pattern is Option B.
What should I do if I get this SC-200 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
Discussion
Loading comments…
Sign in to join the discussion.