- A
Confidentiality
Why wrong: Confidentiality ensures data is only accessible to authorized parties, typically through encryption. Digital signatures focus on detecting tampering, not restricting access.
- B
Integrity
Integrity ensures data has not been altered by unauthorized parties. Digital signatures provide a mechanism to detect any changes, thus preserving integrity.
- C
Availability
Why wrong: Availability ensures systems and data are accessible when needed. Digital signatures do not directly address uptime or access reliability.
- D
Non-repudiation
Why wrong: Non-repudiation prevents a party from denying an action, like sending a message. While digital signatures support non-repudiation, the primary goal described is detecting tampering, which relates to integrity.
Quick Answer
The answer is integrity. Digital signatures achieve this by hashing the electronic medical record and encrypting that hash with the sender’s private key; if the record is altered during transmission, the decrypted hash will not match a freshly computed hash, immediately flagging tampering. On the SC-900 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish integrity from non-repudiation—a common trap where candidates confuse the goal of proving no tampering (integrity) with the goal of proving the signer’s identity (non-repudiation). Remember that while digital signatures can also provide non-repudiation, the question’s focus on “not been tampered with” directly points to integrity as the primary security goal. A helpful memory tip: integrity is about the data staying whole and unchanged, like a sealed envelope that shows signs of being opened, whereas non-repudiation is about proving who sealed it.
SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity
This SC-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 healthcare organization uses digital signatures on electronic medical records to ensure that the records have not been tampered with during transmission. Which security goal is primarily being addressed by this practice?
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
Integrity
Digital signatures use asymmetric cryptography (e.g., RSA or ECDSA) to create a hash of the electronic medical record, which is then encrypted with the signer's private key. Any tampering with the record during transmission will cause the hash verification to fail, directly ensuring data integrity. This practice does not primarily address confidentiality (which requires encryption) or availability (which focuses on uptime).
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.
- ✗
Confidentiality
Why it's wrong here
Confidentiality ensures data is only accessible to authorized parties, typically through encryption. Digital signatures focus on detecting tampering, not restricting access.
- ✓
Integrity
Why this is correct
Integrity ensures data has not been altered by unauthorized parties. Digital signatures provide a mechanism to detect any changes, thus preserving integrity.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Availability
Why it's wrong here
Availability ensures systems and data are accessible when needed. Digital signatures do not directly address uptime or access reliability.
- ✗
Non-repudiation
Why it's wrong here
Non-repudiation prevents a party from denying an action, like sending a message. While digital signatures support non-repudiation, the primary goal described is detecting tampering, which relates to integrity.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse integrity with non-repudiation, but the question's focus on 'tampered with during transmission' directly points to integrity, not the ability to prove who signed it.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Digital signatures rely on a hash function (e.g., SHA-256) to produce a fixed-size digest of the record, which is then signed. The recipient recomputes the hash and uses the signer's public key to verify the signature; a mismatch indicates tampering. In healthcare, this is critical for HIPAA compliance, where audit trails must prove that records were not altered in transit, even if the data is encrypted end-to-end.
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-900 question test?
Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity — This question tests Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Integrity — Digital signatures use asymmetric cryptography (e.g., RSA or ECDSA) to create a hash of the electronic medical record, which is then encrypted with the signer's private key. Any tampering with the record during transmission will cause the hash verification to fail, directly ensuring data integrity. This practice does not primarily address confidentiality (which requires encryption) or availability (which focuses on uptime).
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.
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 →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on SC-900
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. A financial institution uses digital signatures to ensure that a transaction record has not been altered after it was processed. Which security principle is primarily addressed?
easy- A.A. Confidentiality
- ✓ B.B. Integrity
- C.C. Availability
- D.D. Non-repudiation
Why B: Digital signatures use asymmetric cryptography (e.g., RSA or ECDSA) to create a hash of the transaction record, which is then encrypted with the sender's private key. Any alteration to the record after signing would cause the hash verification to fail, directly ensuring data integrity. This is why option B is correct.
Variation 2. A financial institution uses digital signatures to sign all transaction records. This ensures that the records have not been altered after signing. Which security goal does this primarily protect?
easy- A.Confidentiality
- B.Non-repudiation
- ✓ C.Integrity
- D.Availability
Why C: Digital signatures use asymmetric cryptography (e.g., RSA or ECDSA) to create a hash of the transaction record, which is then encrypted with the signer's private key. Any alteration to the record after signing would cause the hash verification to fail, directly protecting the integrity of the data. While digital signatures also support non-repudiation, the question specifically asks which goal is primarily protected by ensuring records have not been altered, which is integrity.
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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