The answer is integrity. This is correct because hash comparison protects data integrity by generating a unique cryptographic fingerprint of a file—such as using SHA-256 in SharePoint Online—and then comparing it against a stored baseline; if the calculated hash matches, the file has not been altered, confirming it remains unchanged and tamper-free. On the Microsoft SC-900 exam, this concept tests your understanding of the three core security goals—confidentiality, integrity, and availability—and often appears in scenarios involving document libraries or file verification. A common trap is confusing integrity with confidentiality, but remember: integrity is about preventing unauthorized modification, not about keeping data secret. A useful memory tip is to think of a hash as a “digital seal”—if the seal is broken (hash mismatch), the data’s integrity is compromised.
SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity
This SC-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity. 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 stores critical financial reports in a SharePoint Online library. To ensure that the reports have not been tampered with, the security team compares a calculated hash of each file against a stored baseline. This verification process primarily protects which security goal?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Integrity
The verification process uses hash comparison to detect unauthorized changes to files, which directly protects data integrity. Integrity ensures that data has not been altered or tampered with during storage or transit. In SharePoint Online, hashing (e.g., SHA-256) creates a unique fingerprint; if the calculated hash matches the stored baseline, the file is unchanged.
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.
✗
Confidentiality
Why it's wrong here
Confidentiality protects against unauthorized disclosure; hashing does not encrypt data or prevent reading.
✓
Integrity
Why this is correct
Integrity ensures data is authentic and has not been modified. Comparing hashes directly verifies that the file content is unchanged.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Availability
Why it's wrong here
Availability ensures that data is accessible when needed; hashing does not address uptime or access.
✗
Non-repudiation
Why it's wrong here
Non-repudiation prevents someone from denying they performed an action. Hashing alone does not provide proof of origin or action.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is confusing integrity with non-repudiation, as both involve cryptographic verification, but non-repudiation requires a digital signature (private key) to prove origin, whereas hash comparison alone only detects changes without identifying who made them.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Hash-based integrity verification uses cryptographic hash functions like SHA-256, which produce a fixed-size output from any input; even a single bit change yields a completely different hash. In SharePoint, this can be implemented via custom scripts or third-party tools that compute and store hashes in a separate secure location (e.g., Azure Blob Storage with immutable policies). A real-world scenario is regulatory compliance (e.g., SOX) where financial reports must be proven unaltered; hash comparison provides a tamper-evident seal without requiring full file re-download.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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 concepts of security, compliance, and identity — This question tests Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Integrity — The verification process uses hash comparison to detect unauthorized changes to files, which directly protects data integrity. Integrity ensures that data has not been altered or tampered with during storage or transit. In SharePoint Online, hashing (e.g., SHA-256) creates a unique fingerprint; if the calculated hash matches the stored baseline, the file is unchanged.
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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These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company uses cryptographic hashes to verify that a downloaded software file has not been modified by an attacker during transmission. Which principle of the CIA triad is primarily being addressed?
easy
A.Confidentiality
✓ B.Integrity
C.Availability
D.Non-repudiation
Why B: Cryptographic hashing (e.g., SHA-256) produces a fixed-size digest from the file's contents. By comparing the computed hash with the publisher's published hash, any change to the file—even a single bit—yields a completely different digest, proving the file has not been tampered with. This directly protects the integrity of the data, ensuring it remains unaltered during transit.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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