- A
Conditional Access
Why wrong: Conditional Access policies evaluate signals such as user location, device compliance, and sign-in risk to grant or block access. They do not enforce password content policies.
- B
Identity Protection
Why wrong: Identity Protection detects risky behaviors such as leaked credentials and anomalous sign-ins, and can trigger automated remediation. It does not enforce banned password lists.
- C
Password Protection
Password Protection is the Entra ID feature that enforces both global and custom banned password lists. It prevents users from setting weak or easily guessable passwords, thereby reducing the risk of password-based attacks.
- D
Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Why wrong: MFA requires an additional verification factor beyond a password. While it strengthens authentication, it does not control what passwords a user may choose.
Password Protection: Enforce Banned Password Lists
This SC-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe the capabilities of microsoft entra. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 improve password security across its Microsoft Entra ID tenant. The security team wants to prevent users from setting passwords that appear on Microsoft's global banned password list, which includes commonly compromised passwords. Additionally, they need to add a custom banned password containing the company name so that users cannot use variations of it. Which Microsoft Entra ID feature should they configure to enforce these password policies?
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
Password Protection
Password Protection in Microsoft Entra ID is the feature specifically designed to enforce both global and custom banned password lists. It prevents users from using commonly compromised passwords from Microsoft's global list and allows administrators to add custom terms, such as the company name, to block variations. This directly addresses the requirement to improve password security by blocking weak and organization-specific passwords.
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.
- ✗
Conditional Access
Why it's wrong here
Conditional Access policies evaluate signals such as user location, device compliance, and sign-in risk to grant or block access. They do not enforce password content policies.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants to block access from untrusted locations unless users complete MFA. Conditional Access policies can require MFA for specific conditions like location or device compliance.
- ✗
Identity Protection
Why it's wrong here
Identity Protection detects risky behaviors such as leaked credentials and anomalous sign-ins, and can trigger automated remediation. It does not enforce banned password lists.
When this WOULD be correct
An exam question might ask: 'A company wants to automatically detect and block users whose credentials have been leaked in a public data breach. Which Microsoft Entra ID feature should they configure?' In that scenario, Identity Protection would be correct.
- ✓
Password Protection
Why this is correct
Password Protection is the Entra ID feature that enforces both global and custom banned password lists. It prevents users from setting weak or easily guessable passwords, thereby reducing the risk of password-based attacks.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
Why it's wrong here
MFA requires an additional verification factor beyond a password. While it strengthens authentication, it does not control what passwords a user may choose.
When this WOULD be correct
An exam question might ask: 'A company wants to require users to provide a second form of verification, such as a phone call or app notification, when signing in from untrusted locations. Which feature should they configure?' In that scenario, MFA would be the correct answer.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The SC-900 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Password ProtectionCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Password Protection is the Entra ID feature that enforces both global and custom banned password lists. It prevents users from setting weak or easily guessable passwords, thereby reducing the risk of password-based attacks.
✗Conditional AccessWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Conditional Access enforces access controls based on signals like user, location, or device state, but it does not manage password content policies such as banned password lists.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants to block access from untrusted locations unless users complete MFA. Conditional Access policies can require MFA for specific conditions like location or device compliance.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Conditional Access with general security policy enforcement, thinking it can be used to set password rules, but it is focused on access conditions, not password content.
✗Identity ProtectionWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Identity Protection is designed to detect and respond to identity-based risks, such as leaked credentials or suspicious sign-ins, but it does not enforce password policies like banning specific passwords.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An exam question might ask: 'A company wants to automatically detect and block users whose credentials have been leaked in a public data breach. Which Microsoft Entra ID feature should they configure?' In that scenario, Identity Protection would be correct.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Identity Protection's ability to detect compromised passwords with the ability to enforce password policies, as both relate to password security.
✗Multi-factor authentication (MFA)Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds a second verification step during sign-in, but it does not enforce password content policies like banning specific passwords. The question specifically asks about preventing users from setting banned passwords, which is handled by Password Protection, not MFA.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An exam question might ask: 'A company wants to require users to provide a second form of verification, such as a phone call or app notification, when signing in from untrusted locations. Which feature should they configure?' In that scenario, MFA would be the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse MFA with password security because both are commonly associated with improving authentication security. They might think that requiring MFA indirectly prevents weak passwords, but MFA does not control password creation policies.
Analysis generated from the official SC-900blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse Identity Protection's 'leaked credentials' detection with the ability to block password creation, but Identity Protection only detects credentials that have already been compromised, not prevents users from setting weak passwords in the first place.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Password Protection works by evaluating password changes and resets against a dynamic global banned password list that is updated based on real-world attack telemetry, and a custom banned password list defined by the tenant admin. The evaluation uses a fuzzy matching algorithm that normalizes and checks for common substitutions (e.g., 'Contoso' vs. 'C0nt0s0') to block variations of custom terms. This feature is enforced at the time of password change or reset, and can be applied to both cloud-only and hybrid users via password writeback.
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 Entra — This question tests Describe the capabilities of Microsoft Entra — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Password Protection — Password Protection in Microsoft Entra ID is the feature specifically designed to enforce both global and custom banned password lists. It prevents users from using commonly compromised passwords from Microsoft's global list and allows administrators to add custom terms, such as the company name, to block variations. This directly addresses the requirement to improve password security by blocking weak and organization-specific passwords.
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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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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