SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the capabilities of Microsoft security solutions
Your company uses Microsoft Defender for Cloud to secure Azure resources. You need to assess compliance with the CIS benchmark. What should you enable?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse Azure Policy (the mechanism) with the regulatory compliance standards feature (the pre-built benchmark mapping), leading them to select Azure Policy instead of the correct option that activates the CIS benchmark assessment in Defender for Cloud.
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
✓
Regulatory compliance standards in Microsoft Defender for Cloud
To assess compliance with the CIS benchmark in Microsoft Defender for Cloud, you must enable the appropriate regulatory compliance standard. Defender for Cloud includes built-in support for industry standards like CIS, and by adding the CIS benchmark as a regulatory compliance standard, the service continuously assesses your Azure resources against the CIS controls and displays compliance status in the dashboard.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Azure Policy
Why it's wrong here
Azure Policy is primarily a governance tool used to enforce organizational standards and assess compliance at scale by evaluating resource configurations against defined policy definitions. While it can enforce security configurations and audit for non-compliance, it does not directly provide a comprehensive, continuous assessment of an Azure environment against external regulatory frameworks like the CIS Benchmarks. Its role is to ensure resources adhere to specified rules, not to generate a compliance score against a third-party standard.
- ✓
Regulatory compliance standards in Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Why this is correct
Microsoft Defender for Cloud's regulatory compliance dashboard is specifically designed to provide a centralized view of an organization's compliance posture against various industry standards and regulatory benchmarks, including the CIS Benchmarks. It continuously assesses Azure resources, identifies security misconfigurations, and maps these findings to specific controls within selected standards. This feature directly enables organizations to track, manage, and improve their compliance with frameworks like CIS by offering actionable recommendations.
- ✗
Microsoft Sentinel
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Sentinel is a cloud-native Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) solution. Its core function involves collecting security data across an enterprise, detecting threats, investigating alerts, and responding to incidents. While it can ingest compliance-related logs and provide insights into security events, it does not inherently provide a direct, continuous assessment of Azure resources against a regulatory standard like the CIS Benchmarks, which is a proactive compliance management function.
- ✗
Azure Firewall
Why it's wrong here
Azure Firewall is a cloud-native, intelligent network security service that provides threat protection for Azure Virtual Network resources. Its primary function is to filter network traffic, enforce network policies, and provide centralized control over outbound and inbound connectivity. As a network security appliance, Azure Firewall is designed for protection and traffic management at the network layer, not for assessing the overall compliance posture of an Azure environment against security benchmarks like CIS.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Compliance Concepts
Key term
Microsoft Defender
Microsoft Defender is a suite of security products that protects devices, data, and identities from cyber threats like malware, phishing, and unauthorized access.
Key term
Defender for Cloud
Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a cloud security posture management (CSPM) and cloud workload protection platform (CWPP) that provides unified security management and threat protection across hybrid and multi-cloud environments.
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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.