SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the capabilities of Microsoft security solutions
Your organization uses Microsoft Purview to manage data sensitivity and compliance. Which TWO capabilities are provided by Microsoft Purview Information Protection?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse the distinct Microsoft Purview solutions: Information Protection (sensitivity labels/classification), Data Loss Prevention (policies to block sharing), Records Management (retention labels), and Insider Risk Management (user behavior analytics), leading them to select overlapping but incorrect options like A, B, or C.
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
✓
Create and publish sensitivity labels that can be applied to documents and emails.
Microsoft Purview Information Protection (MIP) focuses on classifying, labeling, and protecting sensitive data. Option D is correct because sensitivity labels are the core mechanism in MIP for applying protection actions (e.g., encryption, access restrictions) to documents and emails. Option E is correct because MIP includes automatic classification using built-in sensitive information types (e.g., credit card numbers) and trainable classifiers based on machine learning models.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Define retention labels to keep data for a specified period.
Why it's wrong here
Defining retention labels is a core function of Microsoft Purview Records Management, not Information Protection. Retention labels are designed to govern the lifecycle of data, ensuring it is kept for a specified period to meet regulatory, legal, or business requirements, and then disposed of appropriately. This differs fundamentally from Information Protection, which focuses on classifying and applying persistent protection (like encryption and access controls) to sensitive data itself.
- ✗
Detect and manage insider risk activities such as data theft by employees.
Why it's wrong here
Detecting and managing insider risk activities, such as data theft or inappropriate data handling by employees, is the primary purpose of Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management. This solution uses sophisticated analytics and machine learning to identify potentially malicious or inadvertent risky behaviors across an organization's data landscape. While related to data security, it operates distinctly from Information Protection, which focuses on classifying and protecting the data itself.
- ✗
Enforce Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies to prevent accidental sharing of sensitive data.
Why it's wrong here
Enforcing Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies to prevent accidental or intentional sharing of sensitive data outside organizational boundaries is a specific capability within Microsoft Purview DLP. While DLP policies can leverage sensitivity labels for identifying sensitive content, their core function is to monitor, detect, and block inappropriate data flows based on predefined rules. This differs from Information Protection, which applies persistent protection directly to the data, regardless of its location or sharing status.
- ✓
Create and publish sensitivity labels that can be applied to documents and emails.
Why this is correct
Creating and publishing sensitivity labels is a foundational capability of Microsoft Purview Information Protection. These labels allow organizations to classify data based on its sensitivity level, applying visual markings (like headers or watermarks) and persistent protection actions such as encryption and access restrictions. This ensures that sensitive documents and emails remain protected, even when shared outside the organization, as the protection travels with the data.
- ✓
Automatically classify data based on sensitive information types and machine learning models.
Why this is correct
Automatically classifying data based on sensitive information types (SITs) and machine learning models is a key advanced feature of Microsoft Purview Information Protection. This capability enables organizations to identify sensitive content at scale without manual intervention, using built-in or custom SITs, keyword dictionaries, and trainable classifiers. Once identified, appropriate sensitivity labels can be automatically applied or recommended, enhancing data governance and protection efficiency.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Core Security Concepts
Key term
General Data Protection Regulation
A European Union law that gives individuals control over their personal data and sets strict rules for how organizations collect, store, and process that data.
Key term
Organization
An Organization is a top-level container in Google Cloud that represents your company or entities and serves as the root node for all your cloud resources, policies, and access control.
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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.