- A
Create a custom Azure Policy initiative with the required controls and assign it to the relevant scopes.
A custom Azure Policy initiative assigned to the subscription or management group will appear in the Regulatory Compliance dashboard, allowing tracking of internal controls.
- B
Create a custom assessment in the Microsoft Defender for Cloud recommendations dashboard.
Why wrong: There is no feature to create custom assessments in the recommendations dashboard; custom assessments are not supported.
- C
Use the Secure Score API to develop a custom dashboard outside Defender for Cloud.
Why wrong: The secure score API exposes built-in security scores, not custom compliance tracking, and developing an external dashboard is not the intended method.
- D
Enable the "Custom compliance" feature in Defender for Cloud's pricing tier.
Why wrong: There is no 'Custom compliance' feature in Defender for Cloud pricing tiers; regulatory compliance is driven by Azure Policy initiatives.
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.
An organization uses Microsoft Defender for Cloud and needs to track compliance with internal security policies that are not covered by any built-in regulatory standard. They want to see the compliance status for these internal controls in the Regulatory Compliance dashboard alongside other standards. What should they configure?
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
Create a custom Azure Policy initiative with the required controls and assign it to the relevant scopes.
To track compliance with internal security policies not covered by built-in regulatory standards, you must create a custom Azure Policy initiative that defines the required controls and assign it to the relevant scopes. Defender for Cloud automatically evaluates resources against assigned initiatives and surfaces the compliance status in the Regulatory Compliance dashboard alongside built-in standards, allowing unified visibility.
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.
- ✓
Create a custom Azure Policy initiative with the required controls and assign it to the relevant scopes.
Why this is correct
A custom Azure Policy initiative assigned to the subscription or management group will appear in the Regulatory Compliance dashboard, allowing tracking of internal controls.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Create a custom assessment in the Microsoft Defender for Cloud recommendations dashboard.
Why it's wrong here
There is no feature to create custom assessments in the recommendations dashboard; custom assessments are not supported.
- ✗
Use the Secure Score API to develop a custom dashboard outside Defender for Cloud.
Why it's wrong here
The secure score API exposes built-in security scores, not custom compliance tracking, and developing an external dashboard is not the intended method.
- ✗
Enable the "Custom compliance" feature in Defender for Cloud's pricing tier.
Why it's wrong here
There is no 'Custom compliance' feature in Defender for Cloud pricing tiers; regulatory compliance is driven by Azure Policy initiatives.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse custom assessments in the recommendations dashboard with custom compliance controls, not realizing that only custom Azure Policy initiatives are surfaced in the Regulatory Compliance dashboard.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, a custom Azure Policy initiative is a JSON-based collection of policy definitions (e.g., auditing encryption settings) that, when assigned to a management group, subscription, or resource group, triggers evaluation by the Azure Policy engine. Defender for Cloud ingests these evaluation results and maps them to a custom compliance standard, displaying them in the Regulatory Compliance dashboard with a percentage score, just like built-in standards such as SOC 2 or ISO 27001. A real-world scenario is an organization needing to enforce internal data retention policies across Azure Blob Storage; they would define a custom initiative with policies like 'Audit blob containers without immutability policy' and see compliance status directly in the dashboard.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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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: Create a custom Azure Policy initiative with the required controls and assign it to the relevant scopes. — To track compliance with internal security policies not covered by built-in regulatory standards, you must create a custom Azure Policy initiative that defines the required controls and assign it to the relevant scopes. Defender for Cloud automatically evaluates resources against assigned initiatives and surfaces the compliance status in the Regulatory Compliance dashboard alongside built-in standards, allowing unified visibility.
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.
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 11, 2026
This SC-200 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-200 exam.
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