SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions
A small consulting company, Northwind Traders, uses Microsoft 365 Business Premium and wants to implement basic compliance solutions. They have 50 users and need to: (1) prevent employees from sharing customer credit card information via email; (2) retain all deleted emails for 1 year; (3) allow users to classify documents as 'Confidential' manually; (4) generate reports on policy violations. The company has limited IT staff and wants a quick, out-of-the-box solution. What should they configure?
⚠ Common exam trap
SC-900 often tests the confusion between security and compliance services; candidates may incorrectly choose Defender or Intune for data protection tasks that belong to Purview.
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
✓
Use Microsoft Purview to create a DLP policy for credit card info, a retention policy for deleted emails, and publish a sensitivity label for 'Confidential'.
Microsoft Purview provides out-of-the-box compliance capabilities that directly address all four requirements: DLP policies to block credit card information in email, retention policies for deleted emails, sensitivity labels for manual classification, and reporting on policy violations. It is designed for quick deployment with minimal IT overhead, making it the ideal choice for a small company.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use Microsoft Intune to set data loss prevention policies and configure document classification.
Why it's wrong here
Intune manages device configuration and app protection, not email content inspection, retention, or compliance reporting; it cannot detect credit card numbers in messages. Intune would be the right choice for enforcing device compliance and app protection policies on managed endpoints.
- ✓
Use Microsoft Purview to create a DLP policy for credit card info, a retention policy for deleted emails, and publish a sensitivity label for 'Confidential'.
Why this is correct
Microsoft Purview supplies all four capabilities out of the box: DLP policies block credit card data in email, retention policies preserve deleted mail for one year, sensitivity labels enable manual 'Confidential' classification, and built-in reporting covers violations — matching the limited-IT, quick-deployment constraint.
- ✗
Use Microsoft 365 Defender to block sharing of credit card data and configure email retention.
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft 365 Defender blocks threats and attacks, not outbound sensitive-data sharing, and it provides no retention or classification capability. Defender is the correct choice when the requirement is detecting and remediating malware, phishing, or compromised identities rather than compliance policy.
- ✗
Use Microsoft Entra ID to create conditional access policies and enable retention.
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Entra ID governs authentication and access through conditional access, not email content inspection, retention, or document classification. Conditional access is the right choice when the requirement is restricting sign-ins by user, device, or location rather than meeting compliance obligations.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Compliance Frameworks: ISO 27001, NIST, SOC 2
Key term
Labels
Labels are descriptive text or tags attached to IT resources to organize, identify, and manage them based on attributes like purpose, environment, or owner.
Key term
Microsoft Purview
Microsoft Purview is a unified data governance and compliance service that helps organizations discover, manage, and protect their data across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Microsoft exam blueprint
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.