SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  Storing passwords in plaintext

  Why it's wrong here

  Storing passwords in plaintext is a severe security vulnerability, directly contradicting fundamental security principles and industry best practices. Microsoft Entra ID, like any secure identity system, never stores user passwords in an unencrypted, readable format. Instead, it employs robust hashing and salting techniques to protect credentials, ensuring that even if a data breach occurs, passwords cannot be easily compromised or reverse-engineered. This practice is essential for safeguarding user accounts and organizational data.

• ✓

  Conditional Access policies

  Why this is correct

  Conditional Access policies are a core security feature of Microsoft Entra ID, allowing organizations to enforce granular access controls based on specific, real-time conditions. These policies evaluate factors such as user location, device compliance, application sensitivity, and sign-in risk during an authentication attempt. By dynamically requiring multi-factor authentication, blocking access, or limiting session duration, Conditional Access significantly enhances security posture and compliance without impeding legitimate user productivity.

• ✓

  Single sign-on (SSO)

  Why this is correct

  Single sign-on (SSO) is a fundamental benefit of Microsoft Entra ID, enabling users to authenticate once with a single set of credentials and gain seamless access to numerous connected applications, both cloud-based and on-premises. This significantly enhances user experience by eliminating the need to remember multiple passwords and reduces help desk calls for password resets. Furthermore, SSO improves security by centralizing authentication, facilitating stronger credential management, and simplifying the enforcement of security policies.

• ✗

  Local authentication for all apps

  Why it's wrong here

  Local authentication for all applications means each app manages its own user identities and authentication process independently, creating isolated identity silos. This approach significantly increases administrative overhead, complicates user experience with multiple credentials, and makes centralized security management impossible. It directly opposes the unified identity management and single sign-on (SSO) capabilities offered by Microsoft Entra ID, which aims to centralize authentication across all applications.

• ✗

  On-premises authentication only

  Why it's wrong here

  Relying solely on on-premises authentication severely limits an organization's ability to leverage cloud-based applications and modern identity features provided by Microsoft Entra ID. This approach prevents seamless integration with SaaS applications, restricts access to advanced security capabilities like Conditional Access and identity protection, and hinders the adoption of hybrid identity scenarios. Microsoft Entra ID is designed to extend identity to the cloud, supporting both on-premises and cloud resources for a comprehensive solution.

Go deeper

Related to this question