SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity
A company is implementing security controls to protect data during transmission between their on-premises database and a cloud storage service. They decide to use TLS encryption. Which security goal is primarily addressed by ensuring that data is not altered during transit?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often associate encryption solely with confidentiality and forget that TLS also provides integrity via MACs, so they incorrectly choose confidentiality when the question explicitly asks about preventing alteration.
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
✓
Integrity
TLS encryption provides data integrity through message authentication codes (MACs) that detect any unauthorized modification during transit. The question specifically asks about ensuring data is not altered, which is the definition of integrity, not confidentiality or availability.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Availability
Why it's wrong here
Availability focuses on ensuring that systems and data are accessible to authorized users when needed. While a secure TLS connection can indirectly contribute to availability by preventing certain attacks like data corruption or denial-of-service attempts that rely on manipulating unencrypted traffic, its primary cryptographic function is not to guarantee system uptime or data accessibility. Availability is typically addressed through robust infrastructure, redundancy, and disaster recovery planning, rather than solely by the communication protocol's security features.
- ✓
Integrity
Why this is correct
Integrity ensures that data has not been altered or tampered with during transit between the sender and receiver. TLS achieves this by incorporating Message Authentication Codes (MACs) or Hash-based Message Authentication Codes (HMACs) into its record protocol. These cryptographic checksums are computed over the data and a shared secret key, then appended to the encrypted message. Upon receipt, the client recalculates the MAC; if it doesn't match the received MAC, it signifies that the data has been modified, thereby preventing unauthorized changes and ensuring data trustworthiness.
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Confidentiality
Why it's wrong here
Confidentiality ensures that data is not accessible to unauthorized viewers. TLS does provide confidentiality via encryption, but the scenario explicitly states the goal is to prevent alteration, which is a property of integrity, not confidentiality.
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Non-repudiation
Why it's wrong here
Non-repudiation ensures that an action cannot be denied by the party that performed it, often using digital signatures. TLS alone does not provide non-repudiation; integrity checks only detect unauthorized changes, not prove who made them.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Core Security Concepts
Key term
Availability
Availability is the measure of how often a system or service is operational and accessible when needed, typically expressed as a percentage of uptime.
Key term
Transport Layer Security
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol that provides secure, encrypted communication between two devices over a network, such as between a web browser and a server.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.