SC-200 Respond to security incidents Practice Question
Your Microsoft Sentinel workspace receives logs from multiple sources. You need to ensure that an incident response playbook is triggered automatically when a specific alert is generated. What should you create?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse analytics rules (which generate alerts) with automation rules (which respond to alerts), leading them to select analytics rules when the question asks for automatic playbook triggering.
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
✓
An automation rule.
An automation rule in Microsoft Sentinel is specifically designed to trigger incident response playbooks automatically when an alert is generated. It allows you to define conditions based on alert properties and then invoke a Logic App playbook without manual intervention. This is the correct mechanism for automating incident response actions in Sentinel.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A data connector.
Why it's wrong here
Data connectors are configured to ingest log sources into the Sentinel workspace, using Log Analytics workspace APIs or agent-based collection. They establish data collection rules but have no concept of automated response or incident triggering. While data connectors may use diagnostics settings or polling intervals, they do not evaluate alert conditions nor invoke Azure Logic Apps; they simply populate tables like Syslog or SecurityEvent. Thus, a data connector cannot serve as the trigger mechanism for a playbook when an alert is created.
- ✗
An analytics rule.
Why it's wrong here
Analytics rules are KQL-based query configurations that run on a schedule or in near-real-time to detect suspicious activity and generate alerts. They can create incidents and can be associated with automation rules, but they themselves don't execute Logic Apps. The alert creation event from analytics rules is what an automation rule listens to, enabling playbook invocation. Since analytics rules only produce the alert, they are the upstream condition, not the trigger action.
- ✓
An automation rule.
Why this is correct
Automation rules are the native Sentinel mechanism that runs on incident creation or alert creation and can perform actions like assigning ownership, changing status, or invoking a playbook (Logic App) via a trigger. When an automation rule is configured to run a playbook, it uses the alert trigger or incident trigger in the Logic App, passing the alert payload. This is the direct answer to the question because automation rules bridge detection to response. They are the correct trigger mechanism.
- ✗
A new Logic App.
Why it's wrong here
A Logic App in Sentinel is the playbook itself, a workflow that runs in Azure Logic Apps to perform response actions when invoked. Creating a new Logic App doesn't cause anything to happen automatically; it must be called by an automation rule or an incident canvas action. The trigger in the Logic App (e.g., 'when Microsoft Sentinel alert is created') doesn't automatically run the playbook without a connector or rule that invokes it. Therefore, a new Logic App is the resource acted upon, not the trigger.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.