SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity
A company is migrating its on-premises virtual machines to Azure Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). Which security responsibility primarily shifts from the customer to Microsoft during this migration?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse the shared responsibility model for IaaS with PaaS or SaaS, mistakenly thinking Microsoft handles guest OS patching or network configuration, when in fact those remain customer responsibilities in IaaS.
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
✓
Physical security of the data center
When migrating on-premises virtual machines to Azure IaaS, Microsoft takes over responsibility for the physical security of the data centers, including environmental controls, hardware maintenance, and physical access controls. This is a fundamental shift from the customer's responsibility under the shared responsibility model, where the customer previously managed the physical infrastructure on-premises.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Physical security of the data center
Why this is correct
In the Shared Responsibility Model for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Microsoft is solely responsible for the physical security of the underlying data centers. This encompasses safeguarding the physical infrastructure, implementing robust access controls, deploying surveillance systems, and managing environmental factors like power, cooling, and fire suppression. Customers are relieved of these foundational infrastructure concerns, allowing them to focus on their virtualized workloads.
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Patching the guest operating system
Why it's wrong here
In an IaaS model, the customer retains full control and responsibility for the guest operating system running on their virtual machines. This includes the critical task of applying security patches, updates, and hotfixes to the OS (e.g., Windows Server, Linux distributions) to mitigate vulnerabilities. Microsoft provides the underlying virtualized hardware, but OS management, including patching, remains squarely with the customer.
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Managing user access to the virtual machines
Why it's wrong here
The management of user access to virtual machines, including defining user accounts, roles, permissions, and authentication mechanisms, is a direct customer responsibility in an IaaS environment. Customers must configure identity and access management (IAM) within the guest operating system or integrate with their existing directory services (e.g., Active Directory, Azure AD) to control who can log in and what actions they can perform on their VMs. Microsoft secures the platform, but customer access control within the VM is theirs.
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Configuring the firewall rules for the virtual network
Why it's wrong here
Customers are fully responsible for defining and implementing network security controls for their virtual machines and virtual networks within an IaaS deployment. This specifically includes configuring Network Security Groups (NSGs) or Azure Firewall rules to control inbound and outbound network traffic to and from their VMs. These configurations are essential for isolating workloads and protecting against unauthorized network access, falling under the customer's domain of network management.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Core Security Concepts
Key term
Security
Security in IT is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, damage, or theft.
Key term
Shared responsibility
Shared responsibility is a cloud security model where the cloud provider and the customer each own distinct parts of security and compliance duties.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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