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. 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.
Refer to the exhibit. The exhibit shows an alert from Microsoft Defender XDR. The security team needs to determine if the file 'invoice.docm' is known malware and if other devices in the organization have this file. What should they do next?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Search in Advanced Hunting for the file's SHA256 hash across all devices
Option D is correct because searching for the file's SHA256 hash in Advanced Hunting allows the security team to query across all devices in the organization to determine if the file is known malware (by cross-referencing with threat intelligence) and to identify which other devices have the same file. Advanced Hunting in Microsoft Defender XDR supports Kusto Query Language (KQL) queries against the DeviceFileEvents table, enabling hash-based file discovery and reputation checks.
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.
✗
Isolate the device DESKTOP-01 immediately
Why it's wrong here
Isolation may be needed, but first determine the file's prevalence.
✗
Trigger the automated investigation for this alert
Why it's wrong here
The investigation state is already 'Triggered', so this is not the next step.
✗
Review the user jdoe's recent activities
Why it's wrong here
User activity might be relevant, but the immediate question is about the file.
✓
Search in Advanced Hunting for the file's SHA256 hash across all devices
Why this is correct
Advanced Hunting allows querying for the file hash across the organization to find other affected devices.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may choose 'Trigger the automated investigation' thinking it will automatically determine malware status and scope, but automated investigation focuses on response actions rather than providing the specific hash-based query results needed to answer both questions.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, Advanced Hunting uses the DeviceFileEvents table which captures file creation, modification, and deletion events, including the SHA256 hash of each file. By querying for the specific hash, the security team can leverage Microsoft's threat intelligence to determine if the hash is associated with known malware and use the same query to list all devices where that hash appears, enabling rapid scoping of the incident. This approach is more efficient than manual checks because it scales across thousands of endpoints in seconds.
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 cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
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: Search in Advanced Hunting for the file's SHA256 hash across all devices — Option D is correct because searching for the file's SHA256 hash in Advanced Hunting allows the security team to query across all devices in the organization to determine if the file is known malware (by cross-referencing with threat intelligence) and to identify which other devices have the same file. Advanced Hunting in Microsoft Defender XDR supports Kusto Query Language (KQL) queries against the DeviceFileEvents table, enabling hash-based file discovery and reputation checks.
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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