mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped

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?

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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?

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.

A

Best answer

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

Distractor review

Identity Protection

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

Distractor review

Privileged Identity Management

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

Distractor review

Multi-factor Authentication

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 trap

Common exam trap: authentication is not authorization

Logging in proves the user can authenticate. It does not automatically mean the user is allowed to enter privileged or configuration mode. Watch for AAA authorization, privilege level and command authorization details.

Technical deep dive

How to think about this question

This kind of question is testing the difference between identity and permission. A user may successfully log in to a router because authentication is working, but still fail to enter configuration mode because authorization is missing, misconfigured or mapped to a lower privilege level.

KKey Concepts to Remember

  • Authentication checks who the user is.
  • Authorization controls what the user is allowed to do after login.
  • Privilege levels affect access to EXEC and configuration commands.
  • AAA, TACACS+ and RADIUS can separate login success from command access.

TExam Day Tips

  • Do not assume successful login means full administrative access.
  • Look for words such as cannot enter configuration mode, privilege level, authorization or command access.
  • Separate login problems from permission problems before choosing the answer.

Related practice questions

Related SC-900 practice-question pages

Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.

More questions from this exam

Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.

Question 1

A company must retain all customer contracts for 10 years to comply with industry regulations. After 10 years, the contracts must be permanently deleted. Which Microsoft Purview solution should be used to automate this process?

Question 2

A company uses a cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) application for customer relationship management. According to the shared responsibility model, which security responsibility is primarily handled by the customer?

Question 3

A company runs a mix of on-premises servers and Azure virtual machines. They deploy Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on all servers. The security team wants to create custom queries to hunt for a specific attack pattern that involves a sequence of events across multiple machines, such as a PowerShell script being downloaded and then executed on several servers. They need to write their own detection rules based on advanced hunting data. Which Microsoft 365 Defender capability should they use?

Question 4

A company runs a consumer-facing e-commerce website and wants to allow customers to sign in using their existing social media accounts such as Google, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Which Microsoft Entra ID solution should they implement?

Question 5

A company has a hybrid identity environment with Active Directory synchronizing to Microsoft Entra ID. They want users to be able to reset their own on-premises passwords via the cloud SSPR portal. What is the minimum license required for this capability?

Question 6

A company uses a cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that is delivered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). According to the shared responsibility model, which security responsibility is primarily handled by the customer?

FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this SC-900 question test?

Authentication checks who the user is.

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Conditional Access — Microsoft Entra Conditional Access includes a condition called 'Legacy authentication' which allows administrators to block sign-ins from clients that use legacy protocols. By creating a policy that targets the 'Exchange ActiveSync clients' and 'Other clients' (or specifically blocking legacy authentication), the organization can prevent these insecure sign-ins without affecting modern authentication flows.

What should I do if I get this SC-900 question wrong?

Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.

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