The answer is to create an automation rule that triggers on incident creation with severity Medium, runs the playbook, and then changes severity to High. This is correct because Microsoft Sentinel automation rules are designed to orchestrate multiple actions—including playbook execution and severity changes—at the incident level, triggered by specific conditions like severity or status. On the SC-200 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the distinction between analytics rules (which generate alerts) and automation rules (which act on incidents); a common trap is assuming a playbook can change severity on its own, but it cannot—only an automation rule can apply that change after the playbook runs. To automate incident response with playbooks and severity changes, remember that the automation rule is the conductor: it triggers the playbook for evidence collection and then applies the severity change as a separate action. Memory tip: “Automation rules orchestrate; playbooks execute.”
SC-200 Respond to security incidents Practice Question
This SC-200 practice question tests your understanding of respond to security incidents. 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.
Your organization uses Microsoft Sentinel. An incident with severity Medium is created from an analytics rule that detects brute-force attempts against on-premises domain controllers. The incident contains alerts from multiple machines. You need to automatically run a playbook that collects evidence from affected machines and then changes the incident severity to High. What should you configure?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create an automation rule that triggers on incident creation with severity Medium, runs the playbook, and then changes severity to High.
Automation rules in Microsoft Sentinel allow you to trigger playbooks automatically based on conditions. The automation rule can be set to trigger when an incident is created, check the severity condition, run a playbook, and then change the severity. Option A is correct because it enables a single automation rule to orchestrate both the playbook execution and severity change. Option B is wrong because analytics rules only trigger alert creation, not incident-level actions. Option C is wrong because playbooks cannot change severity directly without an automation rule. Option D is wrong because the alert details enrichment is for adding context, not running playbooks or changing severity.
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 an automation rule that triggers on incident creation with severity Medium, runs the playbook, and then changes severity to High.
Why this is correct
Automation rules can run playbooks and modify incident properties.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Configure the incident creation settings to enrich the incident with the playbook output.
Why it's wrong here
Enrichment settings do not run playbooks or change severity post-creation.
✗
Modify the analytics rule to include the playbook as an automated response.
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this SC-200 question in full detail.
Identify which SC-200 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Respond to security incidents — This question tests Respond to security incidents — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create an automation rule that triggers on incident creation with severity Medium, runs the playbook, and then changes severity to High. — Automation rules in Microsoft Sentinel allow you to trigger playbooks automatically based on conditions. The automation rule can be set to trigger when an incident is created, check the severity condition, run a playbook, and then change the severity. Option A is correct because it enables a single automation rule to orchestrate both the playbook execution and severity change. Option B is wrong because analytics rules only trigger alert creation, not incident-level actions. Option C is wrong because playbooks cannot change severity directly without an automation rule. Option D is wrong because the alert details enrichment is for adding context, not running playbooks or changing severity.
What should I do if I get this SC-200 question wrong?
Identify which SC-200 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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. Your incident response team uses Microsoft Sentinel with automation rules and playbooks. During an incident, you need to automatically collect a memory dump from an affected Windows server and upload it to an Azure storage account for analysis. Which type of playbook should you use?
hard
A.A playbook that installs a script on the server to collect the dump.
B.A playbook triggered directly from the analytics rule that generates the alert.
C.A playbook that must be run manually from the incident page.
✓ D.A playbook triggered by an automation rule when the incident is created.
Why D: Option A is correct because automation rules can trigger playbooks on incident creation or update. Option B is wrong because playbooks can be triggered by automation rules, not directly by analytics rules. Option C is wrong because playbooks can be triggered automatically. Option D is wrong because playbooks run in Azure, not on the server.
Variation 2. Which THREE steps should be included in a Microsoft Sentinel playbook for automatic incident response when a high-severity alert fires?
medium
✓ A.Investigate the alert by enriching with threat intelligence
✓ B.Notify the security team via email or Teams
C.Pause the incident for 24 hours before taking action
D.Create a new Azure resource for logging
✓ E.Contain the threat by blocking indicators
Why A: The playbook should investigate, contain, and notify. Pausing the incident is not standard; the playbook should run immediately. Creating a new Azure resource is not typically part of incident response.
Variation 3. Your organization uses Microsoft Sentinel for security operations. The SOC team receives an incident that was generated from a Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps alert. The incident involves a user who is downloading a large number of files from SharePoint Online. The analyst needs to suspend the user's account immediately to stop the potential data exfiltration. The organization has a Microsoft Sentinel playbook that can suspend a user in Microsoft Entra ID. However, the playbook is not triggering automatically. You need to ensure that the playbook runs automatically whenever a Defender for Cloud Apps alert generates an incident in Sentinel. What should you configure?
easy
✓ A.Create an automation rule that triggers the playbook when an incident is created from Defender for Cloud Apps
B.Create a scheduled analytics rule that detects large file downloads
C.Enable the Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps connector to sync alerts
D.Modify the playbook to run on alert creation
Why A: Option C is correct because an automation rule can be created to trigger a playbook on incident creation, specifically for incidents from Defender for Cloud Apps. Option A is wrong because analytics rules are for scheduled queries, not for alerts from other services. Option B is wrong because the playbook itself doesn't determine triggering; it's the automation rule. Option D is wrong because the connector syncs alerts, but automation is needed to run the playbook.
Last reviewed: Jun 21, 2026
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.