- A
Assign the 'Azure Security Benchmark' initiative at the management group, enable automatic remediation for the 'Vulnerability assessment should be enabled on your virtual machines' policy.
Why wrong: The Azure Security Benchmark includes an audit policy for vulnerability assessment, not a DeployIfNotExists policy, so it only audits compliance without automatic remediation.
- B
Assign the 'Defender for Cloud' initiative with the 'Configure machines to receive a vulnerability assessment provider' policy, and configure a remediation task with a deployment script.
Why wrong: The correct policy exists, but using a remediation task with a custom script is unnecessary; the DeployIfNotExists effect handles automatic remediation natively.
- C
Assign the 'Azure Security Benchmark' initiative and create an Azure Automation runbook triggered by a compliance alert to enable VA.
Why wrong: This approach is manual and requires setting up additional automation; the DeployIfNotExists policy is simpler and fully automated.
- D
Assign the 'Configure machines to receive a vulnerability assessment provider' policy with 'DeployIfNotExists' effect and set it to auto-remediate at the management group-level scope.
This policy automatically deploys the vulnerability assessment solution to any VM that lacks it, and assigning at the management group covers all subscriptions.
Quick Answer
The answer is to assign the 'Configure machines to receive a vulnerability assessment provider' policy with the 'DeployIfNotExists' effect and enable auto-remediation at the management group scope. This policy initiative directly deploys the Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management (MDVM) extension to any VM that lacks it, using the DeployIfNotExists effect to automatically remediate non-compliant resources without needing additional runbooks or scripts. On the SC-200 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how Azure Policy can enforce security baselines across multiple subscriptions, specifically distinguishing between audit-only policies and those that perform automatic remediation. A common trap is confusing this with a policy that only audits compliance or requires a manual remediation task; remember that DeployIfNotExists is the key effect for automatic deployment. Memory tip: think "DINE" for DeployIfNotExists — it deploys the missing extension like a waiter bringing a missing dish, automatically fixing the problem.
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 has multiple Azure subscriptions under a management group. They want to ensure that all VMs across all subscriptions have Microsoft Defender for Cloud's vulnerability assessment solution (using the Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management engine) enabled. They also want to automatically remediate any non-compliant VMs by enabling the VA solution when a VM is missing it. Which combination of policy initiatives and automation should they use?
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
Assign the 'Configure machines to receive a vulnerability assessment provider' policy with 'DeployIfNotExists' effect and set it to auto-remediate at the management group-level scope.
Option D is correct because the 'Configure machines to receive a vulnerability assessment provider' policy with the 'DeployIfNotExists' effect directly deploys the Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management (MDVM) extension to any VM that lacks it. By assigning this policy at the management group scope and enabling automatic remediation, the policy will automatically remediate non-compliant VMs without requiring additional runbooks or scripts, fulfilling both the detection and automatic remediation requirements.
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.
- ✗
Assign the 'Azure Security Benchmark' initiative at the management group, enable automatic remediation for the 'Vulnerability assessment should be enabled on your virtual machines' policy.
Why it's wrong here
The Azure Security Benchmark includes an audit policy for vulnerability assessment, not a DeployIfNotExists policy, so it only audits compliance without automatic remediation.
- ✗
Assign the 'Defender for Cloud' initiative with the 'Configure machines to receive a vulnerability assessment provider' policy, and configure a remediation task with a deployment script.
Why it's wrong here
The correct policy exists, but using a remediation task with a custom script is unnecessary; the DeployIfNotExists effect handles automatic remediation natively.
- ✗
Assign the 'Azure Security Benchmark' initiative and create an Azure Automation runbook triggered by a compliance alert to enable VA.
Why it's wrong here
This approach is manual and requires setting up additional automation; the DeployIfNotExists policy is simpler and fully automated.
- ✓
Assign the 'Configure machines to receive a vulnerability assessment provider' policy with 'DeployIfNotExists' effect and set it to auto-remediate at the management group-level scope.
Why this is correct
This policy automatically deploys the vulnerability assessment solution to any VM that lacks it, and assigning at the management group covers all subscriptions.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'AuditIfNotExists' policies (which only report compliance) with 'DeployIfNotExists' policies (which can automatically remediate), leading them to choose options that rely on audit-only policies or external automation when a built-in deployment policy with auto-remediation is available.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The 'DeployIfNotExists' policy effect evaluates resource compliance during each policy evaluation cycle and, when a non-compliant VM is detected, triggers a deployment task that installs the Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management extension (MDE.Windows or MDE.Linux) via the Azure Policy engine. This extension integrates with the Microsoft Defender for Cloud vulnerability assessment solution, scanning for vulnerabilities and reporting findings to the Defender for Cloud dashboard. Automatic remediation ensures that new VMs or VMs that become non-compliant are fixed within the policy evaluation interval (typically 30 minutes), providing continuous compliance without manual intervention.
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
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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: Assign the 'Configure machines to receive a vulnerability assessment provider' policy with 'DeployIfNotExists' effect and set it to auto-remediate at the management group-level scope. — Option D is correct because the 'Configure machines to receive a vulnerability assessment provider' policy with the 'DeployIfNotExists' effect directly deploys the Microsoft Defender Vulnerability Management (MDVM) extension to any VM that lacks it. By assigning this policy at the management group scope and enabling automatic remediation, the policy will automatically remediate non-compliant VMs without requiring additional runbooks or scripts, fulfilling both the detection and automatic remediation requirements.
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.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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