- A
Set 'Alert per rule run' to 'Single alert per run' and enable 'Grouping' with 'Group all alerts into a single incident' and time window of 1 hour.
This setting ensures that all alerts generated by the rule within the grouping time window are combined into one incident, avoiding duplicate incidents for the same pattern.
- B
Set 'Alert per rule run' to 'Every event' and disable grouping.
Why wrong: This would create a separate alert for each event, and without grouping, each alert could become its own incident, causing duplicates.
- C
Set 'Alert per rule run' to 'Single alert per run' and disable grouping.
Why wrong: This creates one alert per rule run but does not use grouping; if the rule runs every hour, each hour's alert becomes a separate incident, but events within that hour are not grouped across runs.
- D
Configure the rule to use 'Supply chain' analytics rule type.
Why wrong: Supply chain rules are unrelated to incident grouping; they are designed for supply chain attack detection.
Quick Answer
The correct configuration is to set 'Alert per rule run' to 'Single alert per run' and enable 'Grouping' with 'Group all alerts into a single incident' with a 1-hour time window. This works because 'Single alert per run' consolidates all matching query results from a single scheduled run into one alert, while the grouping setting merges alerts across multiple runs for the same user and IP into a single incident within the defined time window, directly preventing duplicate incidents. On the SC-200 exam, this tests your understanding of incident deduplication and alert grouping in Sentinel scheduled rules—a common trap is choosing 'One alert per result' or disabling grouping, which would create separate incidents for each failed sign-in. Remember the memory tip: "Single alert, group all, time-box the same user-IP pair" to keep incidents from multiplying.
SC-200 Mitigate threats using Microsoft Sentinel Practice Question
This SC-200 practice question tests your understanding of mitigate threats using microsoft sentinel. 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 SOC analyst is configuring a scheduled analytics rule in Microsoft Sentinel. The rule runs every hour and queries the SigninLogs table for failed sign-ins. The analyst wants to avoid generating multiple incidents for the same user and IP address within a 1-hour window. Which configuration should the analyst use in the 'Incident creation' section of the rule?
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
Set 'Alert per rule run' to 'Single alert per run' and enable 'Grouping' with 'Group all alerts into a single incident' and time window of 1 hour.
Option A is correct because setting 'Alert per rule run' to 'Single alert per run' ensures that all matching query results from a single run are bundled into one alert. Enabling 'Grouping' with 'Group all alerts into a single incident' and a 1-hour time window then merges alerts across multiple runs for the same user and IP into one incident, preventing duplicate incidents within that window. This directly meets the requirement to avoid multiple incidents for the same user and IP within an hour.
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.
- ✓
Set 'Alert per rule run' to 'Single alert per run' and enable 'Grouping' with 'Group all alerts into a single incident' and time window of 1 hour.
Why this is correct
This setting ensures that all alerts generated by the rule within the grouping time window are combined into one incident, avoiding duplicate incidents for the same pattern.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Set 'Alert per rule run' to 'Every event' and disable grouping.
Why it's wrong here
This would create a separate alert for each event, and without grouping, each alert could become its own incident, causing duplicates.
- ✗
Set 'Alert per rule run' to 'Single alert per run' and disable grouping.
Why it's wrong here
This creates one alert per rule run but does not use grouping; if the rule runs every hour, each hour's alert becomes a separate incident, but events within that hour are not grouped across runs.
- ✗
Configure the rule to use 'Supply chain' analytics rule type.
Why it's wrong here
Supply chain rules are unrelated to incident grouping; they are designed for supply chain attack detection.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'Alert per rule run' settings with incident deduplication, mistakenly thinking 'Every event' or disabling grouping will reduce incidents, when in fact only the combination of 'Single alert per run' and enabled grouping with a time window achieves the desired deduplication.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the 'Grouping' feature in Sentinel's scheduled analytics rules uses a time-bucketed deduplication mechanism: when 'Group all alerts into a single incident' is enabled with a 1-hour window, Sentinel tracks alert identifiers (like user and IP) and groups new alerts into an existing open incident if they fall within the sliding window. This is implemented via the 'Alert grouping' configuration, which uses a hash of the grouping fields to match alerts. A real-world scenario is a brute-force attack where the same user and IP generate hundreds of failed sign-ins per hour; without grouping, each run could create 60+ incidents, overwhelming the SOC.
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 cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SC-200 question test?
Mitigate threats using Microsoft Sentinel — This question tests Mitigate threats using Microsoft Sentinel — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Set 'Alert per rule run' to 'Single alert per run' and enable 'Grouping' with 'Group all alerts into a single incident' and time window of 1 hour. — Option A is correct because setting 'Alert per rule run' to 'Single alert per run' ensures that all matching query results from a single run are bundled into one alert. Enabling 'Grouping' with 'Group all alerts into a single incident' and a 1-hour time window then merges alerts across multiple runs for the same user and IP into one incident, preventing duplicate incidents within that window. This directly meets the requirement to avoid multiple incidents for the same user and IP within an hour.
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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Same concept, more angles
1 more ways this is tested on SC-200
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A SOC analyst is configuring a scheduled analytics rule in Microsoft Sentinel that detects sign-ins from IP addresses contained in a custom threat intelligence watchlist. The analyst wants to avoid creating multiple incidents for the same user and source IP address combination within a 6-hour window. Which configuration in the 'Incident creation' settings should the analyst use to achieve this suppression?
hard- ✓ A.Using the 'Event grouping' option under 'Alert grouping' with a 6-hour re-open window
- B.Setting a custom query threshold so that alerts are only generated once per time window
- C.Enabling 'Suppression' on the 'Schedule' page to stop running the query after the first incident
- D.Using the 'Custom' alert grouping and setting a time window for re-opening
Why A: Option A is correct because the 'Event grouping' setting under 'Alert grouping' allows the analyst to group alerts that fire within a specified time window into a single incident. By setting the 'Re-open window' to 6 hours, any new alert matching the same user and source IP address combination will not create a new incident but will instead re-open the existing incident, effectively suppressing duplicate incidents within that window.
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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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