- A
Safe Attachments
Why wrong: Safe Attachments protects against malicious email attachments by detonating them in a sandbox, but it does not directly address AiTM-based phishing attacks that steal session cookies.
- B
Safe Links
Why wrong: Safe Links protects users from malicious URLs in email and other Office apps, but it does not specifically defend against AiTM phishing techniques that involve credential and session theft.
- C
Anti-Phishing (advanced policies)
Advanced anti-phishing policies in Defender for Office 365 include protection against adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks through impersonation analysis, advanced thresholds, and real-time signal detection. This helps block phishing aimed at hijacking sessions.
- D
Campaign Views
Why wrong: Campaign Views is a reporting and investigation feature that provides an overview of attack campaigns across the organization. It does not provide active protection against AiTM attacks.
Quick Answer
The answer is to configure an advanced anti-phishing policy in Microsoft Defender for Office 365. This is correct because advanced anti-phishing policies use machine learning and impersonation detection to specifically combat adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks, which steal session cookies to bypass multifactor authentication. Unlike basic anti-spam or link-checking, these policies analyze real-time credential harvesting and proxy-based session hijacking, blocking the sophisticated techniques that AiTM attackers employ. On the SC-900 exam, this question tests your understanding of Defender for Office 365’s layered protection, often contrasting advanced anti-phishing with simpler features like Safe Links or anti-spam policies. A common trap is choosing “Safe Links” because it checks URLs, but AiTM attacks use real-time proxy servers that evade link scanning at the moment of click. Remember the memory tip: “Advanced anti-phishing stops the session thief—Safe Links only checks the leaf.”
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. 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 365 E5 and is concerned about advanced phishing attacks that use adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) techniques to steal session cookies and bypass multifactor authentication. Which Microsoft Defender for Office 365 feature should they configure to specifically protect against this type of attack?
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
Anti-Phishing (advanced policies)
Advanced anti-phishing policies in Defender for Office 365 include protection against adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks by using machine learning models and impersonation detection to analyze and block phishing attempts that aim to steal session cookies and bypass multifactor authentication. This feature specifically detects and mitigates sophisticated phishing techniques that traditional anti-spam or link-checking mechanisms might miss, such as real-time credential harvesting and session hijacking via proxy servers.
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.
- ✗
Safe Attachments
Why it's wrong here
Safe Attachments protects against malicious email attachments by detonating them in a sandbox, but it does not directly address AiTM-based phishing attacks that steal session cookies.
- ✗
Safe Links
Why it's wrong here
Safe Links protects users from malicious URLs in email and other Office apps, but it does not specifically defend against AiTM phishing techniques that involve credential and session theft.
- ✓
Anti-Phishing (advanced policies)
Why this is correct
Advanced anti-phishing policies in Defender for Office 365 include protection against adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks through impersonation analysis, advanced thresholds, and real-time signal detection. This helps block phishing aimed at hijacking sessions.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Campaign Views
Why it's wrong here
Campaign Views is a reporting and investigation feature that provides an overview of attack campaigns across the organization. It does not provide active protection against AiTM attacks.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Safe Links (which protects against malicious URLs) with the broader anti-phishing protection needed for AiTM attacks, not realizing that AiTM attacks exploit the authentication process itself rather than just the URL, requiring advanced impersonation and proxy detection capabilities found only in anti-phishing policies.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) phishing attacks use a reverse proxy server placed between the user and the legitimate login page, allowing the attacker to capture the session cookie after the user successfully authenticates with MFA. Defender for Office 365's advanced anti-phishing policies leverage heuristics and machine learning to detect the use of known phishing proxy domains, abnormal login patterns, and impersonation attempts, blocking the attack before the session cookie is stolen. In a real-world scenario, even if a user enters valid credentials and passes MFA, the AiTM proxy can replay the session cookie to gain persistent access, which standard link-checking or attachment-scanning tools cannot prevent.
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.
What to study next
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SC-900 question test?
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: Anti-Phishing (advanced policies) — Advanced anti-phishing policies in Defender for Office 365 include protection against adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) attacks by using machine learning models and impersonation detection to analyze and block phishing attempts that aim to steal session cookies and bypass multifactor authentication. This feature specifically detects and mitigates sophisticated phishing techniques that traditional anti-spam or link-checking mechanisms might miss, such as real-time credential harvesting and session hijacking via proxy servers.
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.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 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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