SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the capabilities of Microsoft security solutions
This SC-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe the capabilities of microsoft security solutions. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 multinational company uses a hybrid infrastructure with on-premises Active Directory and Azure resources. They have deployed Microsoft Defender for Cloud to protect their Azure workloads. They now want to extend threat detection to their on-premises Active Directory by collecting security events from domain controllers to detect attacks like Golden Ticket, DCSync, and malicious Kerberos activity. The solution should integrate with Microsoft Sentinel for automated response. Which security solution should they deploy on the on-premises domain controllers?
Why wrong: Defender for Cloud secures cloud workloads, not on-premises Active Directory domain controllers directly.
B
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Why wrong: While Defender for Endpoint can be installed on servers, it focuses on endpoint threats, not specialized AD attack detection like Golden Ticket.
C
Microsoft Defender for Identity
Defender for Identity is purpose-built for on-prem AD threat detection, capturing domain controller events to detect Kerberos attacks and privilege escalation.
D
Microsoft Sentinel
Why wrong: Sentinel is a cloud-native SIEM that aggregates alerts, not a sensor that directly collects events from domain controllers.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Microsoft Defender for Identity
Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI) is the correct solution because it is specifically designed to monitor on-premises Active Directory signals, including security events from domain controllers, to detect advanced identity-based attacks such as Golden Ticket, DCSync, and malicious Kerberos activity. MDI integrates natively with Microsoft Sentinel to enable automated response workflows, fulfilling the requirement for extending threat detection to on-premises AD.
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.
✗
Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Why it's wrong here
Defender for Cloud secures cloud workloads, not on-premises Active Directory domain controllers directly.
✗
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Why it's wrong here
While Defender for Endpoint can be installed on servers, it focuses on endpoint threats, not specialized AD attack detection like Golden Ticket.
✓
Microsoft Defender for Identity
Why this is correct
Defender for Identity is purpose-built for on-prem AD threat detection, capturing domain controller events to detect Kerberos attacks and privilege escalation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Microsoft Sentinel
Why it's wrong here
Sentinel is a cloud-native SIEM that aggregates alerts, not a sensor that directly collects events from domain controllers.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Microsoft Defender for Cloud (a CSPM/CWPP tool) with Microsoft Defender for Identity (an AD-focused identity threat detection tool), because both names include 'Defender' and both can integrate with Sentinel, but only MDI monitors on-premises Active Directory authentication events.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
MDI works by installing a sensor on domain controllers that captures and parses network traffic (e.g., Kerberos, NTLM, LDAP) and Windows Event Logs (e.g., Event ID 4624, 4672, 4768, 4769) to profile user behavior and detect anomalies such as overpass-the-hash, skeleton key, and Golden Ticket attacks. The sensor forwards parsed activities to the MDI cloud service, which uses machine learning and behavioral analytics to generate alerts that can be streamed into Microsoft Sentinel via the MDI data connector for automated incident response.
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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this SC-900 question in full detail.
Describe the capabilities of Microsoft security solutions — This question tests Describe the capabilities of Microsoft security solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Microsoft Defender for Identity — Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI) is the correct solution because it is specifically designed to monitor on-premises Active Directory signals, including security events from domain controllers, to detect advanced identity-based attacks such as Golden Ticket, DCSync, and malicious Kerberos activity. MDI integrates natively with Microsoft Sentinel to enable automated response workflows, fulfilling the requirement for extending threat detection to on-premises AD.
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.
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Question Discussion
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