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.
A company wants to detect and respond to advanced attacks targeting their on-premises Active Directory infrastructure, such as Kerberos Golden Ticket attacks, pass-the-hash, and brute-force attempts. The solution should integrate with Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft 365 Defender for cross-domain investigations. Which Microsoft security solution should they deploy?
Why wrong: Defender for Endpoint focuses on endpoint devices like workstations and servers, not specifically on Active Directory infrastructure attacks.
B
Microsoft Defender for Identity
This is the correct solution, as it is purpose-built to monitor on-premises Active Directory for advanced threats and integrates with Microsoft 365 Defender and Sentinel.
C
Microsoft Defender for Office 365
Why wrong: Defender for Office 365 protects email and collaboration tools, not Active Directory.
D
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Why wrong: Defender for Cloud Apps focuses on cloud application security, not on-premises Active Directory.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Microsoft Defender for Identity
Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI) is specifically designed to protect on-premises Active Directory by monitoring for advanced attacks like Kerberos Golden Ticket, pass-the-hash, and brute-force attempts. It integrates natively with Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft 365 Defender to enable cross-domain investigations, correlating identity signals with endpoint and cloud data.
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.
✗
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Why it's wrong here
Defender for Endpoint focuses on endpoint devices like workstations and servers, not specifically on Active Directory infrastructure attacks.
✓
Microsoft Defender for Identity
Why this is correct
This is the correct solution, as it is purpose-built to monitor on-premises Active Directory for advanced threats and integrates with Microsoft 365 Defender and Sentinel.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Microsoft Defender for Office 365
Why it's wrong here
Defender for Office 365 protects email and collaboration tools, not Active Directory.
✗
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps
Why it's wrong here
Defender for Cloud Apps focuses on cloud application security, not on-premises Active Directory.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Defender for Identity with Defender for Endpoint, assuming endpoint protection covers identity attacks, but MDI is the only solution that directly monitors Active Directory authentication protocols and domain controller traffic for advanced on-premises identity threats.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
MDI uses deep packet inspection and Windows Event Log analysis (e.g., Event ID 4768 for Kerberos TGT requests, Event ID 4624 for logon types) to detect anomalies like forged Golden Tickets (e.g., unusual KRBTGT account usage) or pass-the-hash (e.g., NTLM authentication from a non-domain-joined machine). It also leverages machine learning to baseline user behavior and flag brute-force attempts by analyzing failed logon patterns across multiple domain controllers. Integration with Microsoft 365 Defender allows MDI alerts to be correlated with endpoint alerts from Defender for Endpoint, enabling a unified incident timeline in Microsoft Sentinel.
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.
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: Microsoft Defender for Identity — Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI) is specifically designed to protect on-premises Active Directory by monitoring for advanced attacks like Kerberos Golden Ticket, pass-the-hash, and brute-force attempts. It integrates natively with Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft 365 Defender to enable cross-domain investigations, correlating identity signals with endpoint and cloud data.
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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