Microsoft Entra ID Protection: Automatically Detect and Remediate Risky Sign-Ins
A security administrator at an organization using Microsoft Entra ID needs to automatically detect user sign-ins that exhibit risky behavior, such as signing in from a suspicious IP address or using leaked credentials. The administrator also wants the system to automatically calculate a risk level for each user and take actions like requiring a password reset when risk is high. Which Microsoft Entra ID feature should the administrator use?
Quick Answer
Identity Protection is the answer because it's the one Entra ID feature that does all three things this scenario asks for as a connected pipeline: detecting risky sign-in behavior from signals like a suspicious or anonymous IP address or a match against known leaked credentials, rolling those signals up into a calculated user risk level, and — critically — automatically acting on that risk level, such as requiring a password reset when it reaches high. That last part is what separates Identity Protection from a monitoring or alerting tool: risk detection alone would tell an administrator something looks wrong, but Identity Protection can respond to it directly through risk-based policies without a human needing to review and manually trigger the remediation each time. This automatic risk-to-action pipeline is also what Identity Protection hands off to Conditional Access when a policy needs to reference sign-in or user risk as a condition — Identity Protection generates and scores the risk, and either its own built-in remediation or a Conditional Access policy referencing that risk level decides what to do about it. Any scenario describing detection, scoring, and automatic remediation of risky sign-ins or accounts as one connected capability is describing Identity Protection.
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse Conditional Access with Identity Protection, but Conditional Access is the enforcement layer that uses risk signals from Identity Protection—it does not perform the detection or risk calculation itself.
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
✓
Identity Protection
Microsoft Entra ID Protection is the correct feature because it automatically detects risky sign-in behaviors—such as sign-ins from suspicious IP addresses, anonymous IP addresses, or leaked credentials—and calculates a user risk level. It can then automatically trigger remediation actions like requiring a password reset when the risk level is high, directly matching the administrator's requirements.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Identity Protection
Why this is correct
Identity Protection applies Microsoft Entra ID's risk detections to sign-ins and users, automatically calculating risk levels and triggering conditional access actions such as password reset. This matches the requirement for automatic detection of suspicious IPs and leaked credentials with automated remediation.
- ✗
Privileged Identity Management (PIM)
Why it's wrong here
PIM governs just-in-time activation of privileged roles, not sign-in risk evaluation, so it cannot score users or trigger password resets. It is tempting because PIM is an Entra ID security feature, and it would be correct for controlling standing administrator access rather than detecting compromised credentials.
When this WOULD be correct
PIM would be correct if the question asked for a feature that provides just-in-time privileged access, role activation with approval workflows, or auditing of privileged role assignments to reduce standing access.
- ✗
Conditional Access
Why it's wrong here
Conditional Access enforces access decisions using signals, but it does not itself detect leaked credentials or compute user risk levels. It is tempting because it can act on risk signals, and would be correct for applying policy once Identity Protection has already flagged the risk.
When this WOULD be correct
A question asking: 'An administrator needs to block sign-ins from untrusted locations unless multi-factor authentication is completed. Which feature should be used?' — Conditional Access would be correct for enforcing such access controls.
- ✗
Identity Governance
Why it's wrong here
Identity Governance handles access reviews, entitlement management and lifecycle workflows, not sign-in risk detection or remediation. It is tempting because governance also concerns identity security, and would be correct for certifying who retains access rather than responding to suspicious authentication events.
When this WOULD be correct
An organization needs to automate the review and certification of user access to resources, ensuring that only authorized users have access and that access is periodically recertified. In that scenario, Identity Governance would be the correct feature.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The SC-900 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Identity ProtectionCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Identity Protection applies Microsoft Entra ID's risk detections to sign-ins and users, automatically calculating risk levels and triggering conditional access actions such as password reset. This matches the requirement for automatic detection of suspicious IPs and leaked credentials with automated remediation.
✗Privileged Identity Management (PIM)Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Privileged Identity Management (PIM) manages, controls, and monitors access to privileged roles in Microsoft Entra ID, but it does not detect risky sign-ins or calculate user risk levels based on behaviors like suspicious IP addresses or leaked credentials.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
PIM would be correct if the question asked for a feature that provides just-in-time privileged access, role activation with approval workflows, or auditing of privileged role assignments to reduce standing access.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse PIM with Identity Protection because both involve security and risk, but PIM focuses on privileged access management rather than user sign-in risk detection.
✗Conditional AccessWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Conditional Access enforces policies based on signals like location or device state, but it does not automatically detect risky sign-ins or calculate user risk levels; it relies on Identity Protection for risk detection.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question asking: 'An administrator needs to block sign-ins from untrusted locations unless multi-factor authentication is completed. Which feature should be used?' — Conditional Access would be correct for enforcing such access controls.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Conditional Access's ability to respond to risk signals with the automatic detection and risk calculation that Identity Protection provides, assuming CA includes risk assessment.
✗Identity GovernanceWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Identity Governance focuses on managing user access rights and certifications, not on detecting risky sign-in behaviors or calculating risk levels. It does not automatically detect suspicious IP addresses or leaked credentials.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An organization needs to automate the review and certification of user access to resources, ensuring that only authorized users have access and that access is periodically recertified. In that scenario, Identity Governance would be the correct feature.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'governance' with 'protection' or think that managing user identities includes risk detection, but Identity Governance is about access lifecycle management, not real-time risk analysis.
Analysis generated from the official SC-900blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Defence-in-Depth Security Layers
Key term
User
A user is any person, system, or device that interacts with an IT service, resource, or identity system, typically authenticated through credentials and authorized to perform specific actions.
Key term
Risk
Risk is the possibility that an event or action will negatively affect an organization's ability to achieve its goals, often measured in terms of likelihood and impact.
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Same concept, more angles
3 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. Which TWO scenarios are addressed by Microsoft Entra ID Protection? (Choose two.)
easy- ✓ A.Detecting leaked credentials on the dark web
- B.Reviewing group membership assignments
- C.Enforcing device compliance policies
- D.Resetting forgotten passwords
- ✓ E.Blocking sign-ins from anonymous IP addresses
Why A: Entra ID Protection is a risk-based identity protection service that detects and remediates identity risks in real time. Option A is correct because ID Protection's leaked credentials detection scans the dark web for compromised user credentials and raises a user risk when a match is found, prompting remediation such as password reset or risk-based Conditional Access. Option E is correct because ID Protection includes sign-in risk detections such as 'Anonymous IP address' (along with atypical travel, impossible travel, malware-linked IP, and unfamiliar sign-in properties) that can block or challenge sign-ins via Conditional Access policies. Option B is not correct because reviewing group membership assignments is a governance/access-review task handled by Entra ID Access Reviews or entitlement management, not ID Protection. Option C is not correct because device compliance enforcement is handled by Microsoft Intune and Conditional Access device-compliance policies, not by ID Protection. Option D is not correct because self-service password reset (SSPR) is a separate Entra ID feature for credential recovery, not a risk detection or remediation capability of ID Protection.
Variation 2. A security administrator uses Microsoft Entra ID Protection to identify and respond to identity-based risks. Which two types of risk detections can be reviewed in Microsoft Entra ID Protection? (Choose two.)
hard- ✓ A.Sign-in risk
- ✓ B.User risk
- C.Application permission risk
- D.Device compliance risk
Why A: Microsoft Entra ID Protection evaluates identity-based risks by analyzing two primary detection types: sign-in risk and user risk. Sign-in risk assesses the probability that a specific authentication attempt is unauthorized, while user risk evaluates the likelihood that a user account has been compromised based on aggregated suspicious activities.
Variation 3. An organization wants to protect against password spray attacks by automatically blocking sign-ins from suspicious IP addresses. Which Microsoft Entra feature should they use?
easy- A.Microsoft Entra Self-Service Password Reset
- ✓ B.Microsoft Entra Identity Protection
- C.Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management
- D.Microsoft Entra Multifactor Authentication
Why B: Microsoft Entra Identity Protection uses machine learning to detect and automatically block sign-ins from suspicious IP addresses, such as those associated with anonymous proxies or known malicious activity. It directly mitigates password spray attacks by applying risk-based conditional access policies that require additional verification or block the sign-in attempt.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.