Quick Answer
The answer is Defender for Servers and Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM). CSPM is a foundational, free plan in Microsoft Defender for Cloud that continuously assesses Azure, hybrid, and multi-cloud resources against security benchmarks like CIS and NIST, providing a secure score and recommendations to identify misconfigurations. Defender for Servers, on the other hand, is a paid plan that extends threat detection and advanced protections to your server workloads across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. On the SC-900 exam, this question tests your understanding of the core plan categories—free foundational capabilities versus paid workload protections. A common trap is confusing the always-available CSPM with a paid add-on; remember that CSPM is the baseline, while Defender for Servers is an optional upgrade. Memory tip: think “CSPM is free and foundational, Servers are paid and protective.”
This SC-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe the capabilities of microsoft security solutions. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 company uses Microsoft Defender for Cloud to secure its environment. Which TWO plans are available?
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
Correct: Foundational plan.
Defender for Servers
Correct: Advanced plan.
Microsoft Intune
Why wrong: Incorrect: MDM.
Microsoft Sentinel
Why wrong: Incorrect: SIEM.
Microsoft Defender for Identity
Why wrong: Incorrect: Separate product.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) is a foundational plan in Microsoft Defender for Cloud that continuously assesses your Azure, hybrid, and multi-cloud resources against security benchmarks (e.g., CIS, NIST, Azure Security Benchmark) to identify misconfigurations and compliance gaps. It is available as a free, basic plan that provides secure score and recommendations, making it a core offering of Defender for Cloud.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM)
Why this is correct
Correct: Foundational plan.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Defender for Servers
Why this is correct
Correct: Advanced plan.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Microsoft Intune
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: MDM.
Microsoft Sentinel
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: SIEM.
Microsoft Defender for Identity
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect: Separate product.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender for Identity as being 'plans' within Defender for Cloud because they are part of the broader Microsoft security ecosystem and integrate with Defender for Cloud, but they are separate services with their own licensing and management interfaces.
Detailed technical explanation
Defender for Cloud's CSPM plan includes the 'Defender for Cloud (legacy)' free tier and the 'Defender CSPM' paid plan, which adds agentless scanning for VMs, attack path analysis, and cloud security explorer capabilities. The Defender for Servers plan is a paid workload protection plan that extends CSPM with just-in-time VM access, file integrity monitoring, and adaptive application controls, leveraging the Microsoft Defender Antivirus and Qualys vulnerability assessment engine. In a real-world scenario, an organization might enable the free CSPM plan to get a baseline secure score, then upgrade to Defender for Servers for critical workloads requiring threat detection and vulnerability management.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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.
What to study next
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FAQ
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..
The correct answer is: Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) — Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) is a foundational plan in Microsoft Defender for Cloud that continuously assesses your Azure, hybrid, and multi-cloud resources against security benchmarks (e.g., CIS, NIST, Azure Security Benchmark) to identify misconfigurations and compliance gaps. It is available as a free, basic plan that provides secure score and recommendations, making it a core offering of Defender for Cloud.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 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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