- A
An automation rule is suppressing incidents with the same name.
Why wrong: Suppression would reduce volume but not prevent all incidents.
- B
The workspace retention period is set to less than 90 days.
Why wrong: Retention doesn't affect incident creation.
- C
The Log Analytics agent is not installed on the VMs.
Why wrong: But the table has data, so agent is working.
- D
The analytics rule is enabled and the query is correctly filtering for event ID 4625.
If the rule is disabled or query is wrong, incidents won't be created.
Question 1,286 of 1,639
Troubleshooting Microsoft Sentinel Analytics Rule Configuration Errors
This SC-200 practice question tests your understanding of manage a security operations environment. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
You are configuring a Microsoft Sentinel analytics rule to detect brute-force attacks on your Azure Virtual Machines. The rule uses the 'SecurityEvent' table. You notice that the rule is not generating incidents even though you see failed logon events in the logs. What should you check?
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
✓
The analytics rule is enabled and the query is correctly filtering for event ID 4625.
Option D is correct because the most immediate reason a rule fails to generate incidents despite seeing failed logon events is that the rule itself is either disabled or its query does not correctly filter for event ID 4625, which is the specific Windows security event ID for failed logon attempts. Even if logs are present, the analytics rule must be enabled and its KQL query must accurately target the right event ID to trigger an incident. Without this, the rule will not process the events into alerts.
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.
- ✗
An automation rule is suppressing incidents with the same name.
Why it's wrong here
Suppression would reduce volume but not prevent all incidents.
- ✗
The workspace retention period is set to less than 90 days.
Why it's wrong here
Retention doesn't affect incident creation.
- ✗
The Log Analytics agent is not installed on the VMs.
Why it's wrong here
But the table has data, so agent is working.
- ✓
The analytics rule is enabled and the query is correctly filtering for event ID 4625.
Why this is correct
If the rule is disabled or query is wrong, incidents won't be created.
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 assume the issue must be with data collection (agent or retention) when they see logs present, but the real problem is almost always a misconfigured or disabled analytics rule, specifically the query logic or the rule's enabled state.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, a Microsoft Sentinel analytics rule runs on a schedule (e.g., every 5 minutes) and executes a Kusto Query Language (KQL) query against the workspace. If the query is incorrectly written—for example, filtering for EventID 4624 (successful logon) instead of 4625, or missing a time filter—the rule will return zero results and no incident will be created. Additionally, the rule's 'Alert creation' setting must be enabled, and its 'Entity mapping' must be correctly configured to map the account or IP address; otherwise, even if the query returns results, the rule may fail to generate an incident due to missing entity information.
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?
Manage a security operations environment — This question tests Manage a security operations environment — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The analytics rule is enabled and the query is correctly filtering for event ID 4625. — Option D is correct because the most immediate reason a rule fails to generate incidents despite seeing failed logon events is that the rule itself is either disabled or its query does not correctly filter for event ID 4625, which is the specific Windows security event ID for failed logon attempts. Even if logs are present, the analytics rule must be enabled and its KQL query must accurately target the right event ID to trigger an incident. Without this, the rule will not process the events into alerts.
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: Jul 4, 2026
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