- A
Conditional Access
Conditional Access policies can include a 'Block legacy authentication' condition. This allows administrators to create a policy that blocks all sign-ins from clients that do not support MFA, effectively stopping attacks that rely on legacy protocols while preserving modern authentication.
- B
Identity Protection
Why wrong: Identity Protection detects risky sign-ins and users but does not directly block specific protocols. It can trigger risk-based conditional access, but the scenario requires a direct block on legacy authentication protocols, which is a Conditional Access condition.
- C
Privileged Identity Management
Why wrong: Privileged Identity Management (PIM) manages just-in-time access to privileged roles. It does not control authentication protocols used for sign-in to applications.
- D
Multi-factor Authentication
Why wrong: Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) is an authentication method, not a policy to block legacy protocols. While MFA can be required for modern clients, legacy clients cannot perform MFA, so blocking them is a separate requirement.
SC-900 Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra Practice Question
This SC-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe the capabilities of microsoft entra. 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's security team discovers that most recent account compromises resulted from attackers exploiting legacy authentication protocols (POP3, IMAP, SMTP Auth) that do not support multi-factor authentication. The team wants to immediately block all sign-in attempts using these legacy protocols while still allowing modern authentication methods (e.g., OAuth 2.0). Which Microsoft Entra ID feature should they configure?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"immediately / without restart"Why it matters: Time or reboot constraint — the correct answer must take effect right away without requiring a reboot or reload.
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
Conditional Access
Conditional Access policies in Microsoft Entra ID can be configured to block authentication attempts from legacy protocols (POP3, IMAP, SMTP Auth) by targeting client apps that do not support modern authentication. This allows the security team to immediately enforce a block on all sign-ins using these protocols while still permitting modern OAuth 2.0-based methods, directly addressing the requirement without disabling MFA for users who can use modern clients.
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.
- ✓
Conditional Access
Why this is correct
Conditional Access policies can include a 'Block legacy authentication' condition. This allows administrators to create a policy that blocks all sign-ins from clients that do not support MFA, effectively stopping attacks that rely on legacy protocols while preserving modern authentication.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "immediately / without restart" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Identity Protection
Why it's wrong here
Identity Protection detects risky sign-ins and users but does not directly block specific protocols. It can trigger risk-based conditional access, but the scenario requires a direct block on legacy authentication protocols, which is a Conditional Access condition.
- ✗
Privileged Identity Management
Why it's wrong here
Privileged Identity Management (PIM) manages just-in-time access to privileged roles. It does not control authentication protocols used for sign-in to applications.
- ✗
Multi-factor Authentication
Why it's wrong here
Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) is an authentication method, not a policy to block legacy protocols. While MFA can be required for modern clients, legacy clients cannot perform MFA, so blocking them is a separate requirement.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse the 'block legacy authentication' capability with MFA or Identity Protection, assuming that enabling MFA alone will stop legacy protocol abuse, when in fact legacy protocols bypass MFA entirely and require a Conditional Access policy to be explicitly blocked.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
Identity Protection detects risky sign-ins and users but does not directly block specific protocols. It can trigger risk-based conditional access, but the scenario requires a direct block on legacy authentication protocols, which is a Conditional Access condition.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Conditional Access policies evaluate the 'Client Apps' condition, which includes a 'Legacy authentication clients' option that covers protocols such as POP3, IMAP4, SMTP Auth, and Exchange ActiveSync (when not using modern auth). When a policy blocks legacy authentication, the Entra ID authentication stack rejects the token request at the protocol level, returning an HTTP 403 or a specific error like 'AADSTS53003: Access has been blocked by Conditional Access policies.' This is effective immediately because the policy is evaluated at every authentication attempt, and no client-side changes are required.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SC-900 question test?
Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra — This question tests Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Conditional Access — Conditional Access policies in Microsoft Entra ID can be configured to block authentication attempts from legacy protocols (POP3, IMAP, SMTP Auth) by targeting client apps that do not support modern authentication. This allows the security team to immediately enforce a block on all sign-ins using these protocols while still permitting modern OAuth 2.0-based methods, directly addressing the requirement without disabling MFA for users who can use modern clients.
What should I do if I get this SC-900 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "immediately / without restart". Time or reboot constraint — the correct answer must take effect right away without requiring a reboot or reload.
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
This SC-900 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-900 exam.
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